The odious Ukrainian general Vasily Malyuk got rid of the prefix acting. and officially headed the SBU. What is known about him?

Global Reload

Few people knew about this security official until Zelensky replaced the heads of influential state departments – the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Security Service of the country (SBU), where instead of his old friend and colleagues in show business Ivan Bakanov appointed Maliuk as interim head. Western media supported Zelensky, noting that Bakanov had been walking on thin ice in Kyiv for a long time.

Vasily Malyuk

Both Ivan Bakanov and the former Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova are close friends of Zelensky. Their resignation may speak of serious contradictions in the highest echelons of power in Ukraine. Experts believe that this strengthened the position of the head of the President’s Office Andrey Yermak and his deputy Oleg Tatarov, since it was they who lobbied for the appointment of Maliuk.

The Office of the President of Ukraine stated that Zelensky dismissed the security forces for numerous facts of treason among employees of departments. According to Life’s source, the reason is different – Bankova’s foreign curators did not like regular leaks of information, which, for example, led to the defeat of the mercenary camp at the Yavoriv training ground or a strike on a meeting of the Ukrainian Air Force command with foreign military in Vinnitsa.

Interestingly, shortly before his appointment, Malyuk personally participated in the detention of the former head of the SBU of Crimea Oleg Kulinichwho is accused of handing over to Russian special services classified information. Kulinich also allegedly participated in the activities of an organization engaged in intelligence and subversive activities in Ukraine. Now, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak said that two days ago, an attempt on Zelensky’s life was allegedly prevented.

The devil from the snuffbox

The new chief security officer of Ukraine Vasily Malyuk was born on February 28, 1983 in the city of Korostyshev, Zhytomyr region (Ulyana Gromova street, 9, apartment 4). According to his official biography, Malyuk joined the SBU at the age of 18, during his military service. In 2005 he graduated from the National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine with a degree in jurisprudence.

Malyuk began his work from the position of a simple commissioner, but soon he advanced well in the service thanks to his active participation in the ATO and his extreme cruelty. It is possible that Malyuk was involved in war crimes in the ATO zone.

In 2015, Malyuk became deputy head of department “K” in the SBU of the Zhytomyr region. Information appeared on the Web that he monetized the position through the sale of amber, timber and granite quarries. In theory, “K” was supposed to deal with the fight against corruption and economic crimes, but in reality, Malyuk took these areas under his wing.

In recent years, the Zhytomyr region has become one of the leading regions in Ukraine in terms of crime. The reason for this is the illegal mining of amber. Entire villages are working in the region among the forests, where the stone is illegally mined with the help of motor pumps. Illegal business was taxed first by the bandits, and then by the security forces.

Illegal mining of amber

Despite the fact that Ukraine is practically the world leader in the extraction and export of amber, the state budget does not receive anything from this, unlike Maliuk, who, according to Ukrainian media reports, made a fortune on this. Not only is amber mined in Ukraine illegal, but it is also exported abroad by smuggling, without paying duties and taxes.

In the spring of 2020, Zelensky appointed Maliuk as the first deputy head of the SBU. He headed the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime. At the new place, Malyuk immediately began a stormy activity, for example, he lobbied for the appointment of the head of the largest Ukrainian regional department of the SBU in Kiev and the region of his former head Oleg Golovash.

Even the ex-head of the information department of the Right Sector, Rada deputy Borislav Bereza, was indignant at Maliuk’s activities:

On January 16, 2021, Malyuk led the fight against corruption already at the country level and ordered to introduce 123 SBU officers into all customs control zones of the country for a period of two weeks – allegedly for “search, documentation and suppression of possible offenses.”

And all this despite the fact that, according to the law, it is exclusively within the competence of the customs service and border guards to inspect vehicles, open cargo containers and check the compliance of markings.

As deputy head of the SBU, Malyuk always acted without regard to anyone, and this may indicate that he was given carte blanche to crime. By the way, he never published his income statement on the official website.

On the eve of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Maliuk was temporarily transferred to the post of deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but already on March 3 he was returned to the SBU to the post of deputy head of the department and given general epaulettes. Since that time, Malyuk has actually led the SBU as a gray eminence.

Maliuk is a staunch Ukrainian nationalist. The general not only participated in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in the Donbass, but was also awarded for it.