Ukraine's parliament appoints Maliuk as SBU head

The Verkhovna Rada has appointed Vasyl Maliuk as head of the Security Service of Ukraine. Prior to that, he served as acting head of the SBU.

Oleksii Honcharenko, a lawmaker from the European Solidarity party, reported this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

"General Vasyl Maliuk has been appointed head of the Security Service of Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada approved a respective motion from the President of Ukraine," the parliamentarian said.

On July 17, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ivan Bakanov as head of the Security Service of Ukraine. The next day, the head of state appointed SBU's first deputy head Vasyl Maliuk as acting head of the agency. On July 19, the Verkhovna Rada voted to dismiss Bakanov.

On February 6, 2023, the president submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a motion to appoint Maliuk as head of the Security Service of Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence recommended that the parliament support such an appointment.