'Yermak's political revenge': Ukrainian MP on SBU chief Maliuk's dismissal

Ukrainian lawmaker Yulia Sirko (Klymenko) expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"Regarding Mr. Maliuk's dismissal from the position of SBU head, I think this is a firing that leads nowhere. Replacing Maliuk is absolutely groundless and ill-timed. I don't know if there will be enough votes in parliament to dismiss him and appoint the next candidate. We definitely don't plan to support this, because Mr. Maliuk was in the right place, despite all the complaints about the SBU - though there really are many questions about the economic and political side. But there were no questions about Mr. Maliuk himself. We saw him many times both in parliament and at the coordination council, and he was always actively and patriotically minded. In my opinion, this person was in the right place. This is simply Yermak's political revenge as he's leaving," the MP commented.

In her opinion, Mr. Yermak always has his own people, since for many years he de facto headed the state and had candidates for all key positions. And there were always people in his circle who wanted to take the position of SBU head.

"I think several people were indeed vying to take Maliuk's position. But I hope - if the president has already decided to remove one person and parliament supports this, then I think he should be replaced by a worthy candidate who the country needs right now. Not Zelenskyy, not Yermak, not parliament, but the country! Because de facto, our entire internal security depends on the SBU, counterintelligence operations, and many 'traps' that the Russians deserve. So this political infighting around the SBU is ill-timed and absolutely unnecessary at the moment, but this is the president's prerogative and he has the right to his opinion. We'll see if parliament supports the dismissal and appointment. I think it will be an interesting spectacle," Yulia Sirko concluded.

• On January 5, the head of Ukraine's Security Service, Vasyl Maliuk, announced his resignation from the position. He stated that he remains within the SBU system and will henceforth focus on implementing asymmetric special operations against the enemy.