View source for Security Service of Ukraine

{{Short description|Internal security agency in Ukraine}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name     = Security Service of Ukraine
| nativename      = 
| nativename_a    = Служба безпеки України
| seal            = Security Service of Ukraine Emblem.svg
| seal_size       = 150px
| seal_caption    = Emblem of the Security Service
| logo            = Flag of the Security Service of Ukraine.svg
| logo_size       = 150px
| logo_caption    = Flag of the Security Service
| formed          = {{start date and age|df=y|1991|9|20}}
| date1           = 
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| jurisdiction    = [[Government of Ukraine]]
| headquarters    = 32–35, Volodymyrska Street, [[Kyiv]], 01034<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sbu.gov.ua/sbu/control/en/publish/article?art_id=82595&cat_id=83653 |title=Official website of the authority. Contact Us. |date=2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313130957/http://www.sbu.gov.ua/sbu/control/en/publish/article?art_id=82595&cat_id=83653 |archive-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref>
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| employees       = 29,000 (November 2017)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://m.glavcom.ua/news/u-sbu-rozpovili-skilki-spivrobitnikiv-pracyuje-v-specsluzhbi--454212.html|title=У СБУ розповіли, скільки співробітників працює в спецслужбі|website=glavcom.ua|date=November 25, 2017 |access-date=April 30, 2018}}</ref><br />30,000 (February 2014)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rieas.gr/images/tarask.pdf |title=The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) |access-date=February 10, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020081955/http://rieas.gr/images/tarask.pdf |archive-date=October 20, 2014}}</ref>
| budget          = 
| chief1_name     = [[Vasyl Malyuk]]<ref name="64530447Malyuk">{{cite web |title=Малюк став повноцінним головою СБУ. Чим відомий борець з "агентурою в рясах" |language=uk |trans-title=The kid became a full-fledged head of the SBU. What is the fighter with the "agency in cassocks" known for? |url=https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-64530447 |website=[[BBC Ukrainian]]|date=7 February 2023 }}</ref>
| chief1_position = [[Head of the Security Service of Ukraine]]
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| parent_department = 
| parent_agency   = [[President of Ukraine]]
| child1_agency   = [[Alpha Group (Ukraine)|Spechrupa A]]
| child2_agency   = 
| website         = [https://ssu.gov.ua/en/ Official website]
| footnotes       = Overseen by the Presidential Commissioner
}}

{{History of State Security of Ukraine}}
[[File:CI Dep of SSU.png|thumb|upright|Logo of the Counter-Intelligence Department]]
[[File:ГУ -К- СБУ.svg|thumb|upright|Department "K" (Fights corruption and organized crime)]]
[[File:ГСУ СБУ.jpeg|thumb|upright|Badge of the Investigation Administration]]
{{Politics of Ukraine}}

The '''Security Service of Ukraine''' ({{langx|uk|Служба безпеки України|translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}} {{IPA|uk|ˈsluʒbɐ bezˈpɛkɪ ʊkrɐˈjinɪ|}}; abbreviated as '''SBU''' [{{lang|uk|СБУ}}] or '''SSU''') is the main [[Internal security|internal]] [[security agency]] of the [[Government of Ukraine|Ukrainian government]]. Its main duties include [[counter-intelligence]] activity and combating [[organized crime]] and [[terrorism]]. The [[Constitution of Ukraine]] defines the SBU as a military formation, and its staff are considered military personnel with ranks. It is subordinated directly under the authority of the [[president of Ukraine]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=SSU reform |url=https://ssu.gov.ua/en/reforma-ssu |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=SSU |language=en |quote=The Constitution of Ukraine defines the status of the SSU as a military institution.}}</ref> The SBU also operates its own [[Special forces of Ukraine|special forces]] unit, the [[Alpha Group (Ukraine)|Alpha Group]].

The SBU was created after the [[Declaration of Independence of Ukraine]] in 1991. The agency was viewed negatively by the Ukrainian public for much of its history, as it was widely regarded as corrupt and was best known for arresting and intimidating political dissidents. After the [[Revolution of Dignity]] in 2014, the SBU went through a restructuring with the transition to the new government, because of its corruption and possible infiltration by [[intelligence agencies of Russia]].<ref name="voausb26715" />

The SBU carries out operations that in many other countries are the responsibility of the police and special forces rather than counter-intelligence services.

The SBU has since been involved in operations against Russia, [[Russian separatist forces in Donbas|pro-Russian separatists in Donbas]] and other Russian sympathizers after the start of the [[War in Donbas (2014–2022)|war in Donbas]] and the wider [[Russo-Ukrainian War]].<ref name=":0" />

==Duties and responsibilities==
The Security Service of Ukraine is vested, within its competence defined by law, with the protection of national sovereignty, constitutional order, territorial integrity, economical, scientific, technical, and defense potential of Ukraine, legal interests of the state, and civil rights, from intelligence and subversion activities of foreign special services and from unlawful interference attempted by certain organizations, groups and individuals, as well with ensuring the protection of state secrets.<ref name=SBU-Objectives />

Other duties include combating crimes that endanger the peace and security of mankind, terrorism, corruption, and organized criminal activities in the sphere of management and economy, as well as other unlawful acts immediately threatening Ukraine's vital interests.

The SBU carries out operations that in many other countries are the responsibility of the police and [[special forces]] rather than counter-intelligence services.<ref name=boffey>{{cite news| last=Boffey | first=Daniel | title='He's a bulldog': the man behind the success of Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb |newspaper=The Guardian | date=6 June 2025 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/06/the-man-behind-the-success-of-ukraine-operation-spiderweb-russia}}</ref>

==Organization==
The general structure and operational methods of SBU appear to be very similar to that of its predecessor (KGB of [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]]) with exception of [[Ukrainian Border Guard]]s and department responsible for security of high-rank state officials. Both of them became independent institutions. However, the SBU keeps under its control special operation [[Alpha Group (Ukraine)|Alpha]] units with bases in every Ukrainian province. According to British political expert [[Taras Kuzio]] the organizational structure of SBU remains bloated in size compared to its predecessor, the Soviet Ukrainian KGB, with the total number of active officers being as high as 30,000 personnel. It is six times larger than the British domestic [[MI5]] and external [[MI6]] combined.<ref name=kuzio>{{cite book |last=Kuzio|first=Taras|date=2015 |title=Ukraine. Democratization, Corruption and the New Russian Imperialism |pages=467|chapter= The Security Service (SBU)|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn= 978-1-4408-3502-5}}</ref>

===Structure===
* Central Apparatus (consists of some 25 departments)
** Main Directorate on Corruption and Organized Crime Counteraction
* Regional Departments of the SBU (26 departments)
* Special Department
* [[Anti-Terrorist Center (Ukraine)|Anti-Terrorist Center]] cooperates with numerous ministries and other state agencies such as the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Emergencies, State Border Guard Service, and others.
* Educational Institutions
** {{Not translated|National Academy of the Security Service of Ukraine|uk|Національна академія Служби безпеки України|be|Нацыянальная акадэмія Службы бяспекі Украіны}}
** Institute in preparation of Service Personnel at the National Law Academy of Yaroslav the Wise 
** Other educational institutions
* Military Counter-intelligence
* State Archives of the SBU
* [[Alpha Group (Ukraine)|Special Group "Alpha"]]

==History==
===Ukrainian security services in Soviet era ===
On January 14, 1918, the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] founded its Security Services.<ref name="969SecSevUkr" />

In May 1918 the Department of the State Guard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the [[Ukrainian State]] started to form a new intelligence service.<ref name="969SecSevUkr">{{in lang|uk}} [https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/28969341.html Ukrainian intelligence services. Victory and defeat of the last century], [[Radio Svoboda]] (January 14, 2018)</ref> This was a much more effective agency than its predecessor due to the incorporation of former employees of [[Okhrana]] (the secret police force of the [[Russian Empire]]).<ref name="969SecSevUkr" /> After the fall of the Ukrainian State and the return of power of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] (UNR) in December 1918, the new UNR authorities destroyed virtually all of the state infrastructure of the Ukrainian State.<ref name="969SecSevUkr" /> Therefore, the new secret services founded in January 1919 (with two divisions – domestic and foreign) had to start practically from scratch.<ref name="969SecSevUkr"/><ref name="SecSevUkrnev">{{in lang|uk}} [https://m.dt.ua/HISTORY/nevidimiy-front-specsluzhbi-chasiv-ukrayinskoyi-revolyuciyi-_.html "Invisible Front": Special Forces of the Times of the Ukrainian Revolution], m.dt.ua (November 26, 2018)</ref> It never became as well-led, nor as successful, as its forerunner, the security services of the Ukrainian State.<ref name="969SecSevUkr" /><ref name="SecSevUkrnev" /> The security services of the [[West Ukrainian People's Republic]] on the other hand were well-organized.<ref name="969SecSevUkr" /> The West Ukrainian People's Republic were formed in March 1919 as the Field Gendarmerie of the [[Ukrainian Galician Army]] (it also served as [[military police]]).<ref name="969SecSevUkr" /> There was no cooperation between the security services of the West Ukrainian People's Republic and Ukrainian People's Republic.<ref name="969SecSevUkr" />

In 1924, former (April–July 1919) head of intelligence of the Ukrainian People's Republic [[Mykola Chebotarov]] started intelligence work on his own initiative for the Ukrainian People's Republic [[government in exile]] on the territory of the [[Ukrainian SSR]].<ref name="cle1mw8t8html">[https://history.vn.ua/article1/mw8t8.html Summary on Military secret service of the state center of the UNR in the exile and its leaders (1926–1938 biennium)], history.vn.ua</ref>
[[File:СБУ 2017.jpg|left|thumb|SBU [[Alpha Group (Ukraine)|Alpha Group]] operators]]

The All-Ukrainian [[Cheka]] was formed on December 3, 1918, in [[Kursk]]<ref name="vuchk" /> on the initiative from [[Yakov Sverdlov]] and [[Lenin]]'s orders. The commission was formed on the decree of the [[Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government of Ukraine]] and later adopted on May 30, 1919, by the [[All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee]]. To support the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet government in Ukraine]], in Moscow was formed a corps of special assignment with 24,500 soldiers as part of the All-Ukrainian Cheka. In spring 1919, there was created the Council in fight against counterrevolution and consisted of [[Adolph Joffe]], [[Stanislav Kosior]], and [[Martin Latsis]]. In its early years the security agency fought against the "kulak-nationalistic banditry"<ref name="Lek-AUCEC" /> (peasants who resisted having their land confiscated and being forced into collective farms). On August 19, 1920, the All-Ukrainian Cheka arrested all members of the [[All-Ukrainian Conference of Mensheviks]] after accusing them of counterrevolutionary activity.<ref name="Day100819" /> On December 10, 1934, the [[State Political Directorate]] of Ukraine was dissolved, becoming part of the [[NKVD]] of Ukraine.<ref name="vuchk" />

===1990s–2005===
[[File:Будинок Губернської Земської управи.JPG|thumb|SBU Headquarters in [[Kyiv]]]]

The SBU originated from the [[Ukrainian SSR|Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]]'s Branch of the Soviet [[KGB]], keeping the majority of its 1990s personnel.<ref name=wpusbfrs>{{cite news |last=Sishkin |first=Phillip |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-spy-games-are-sabotaging-ukraines-intelligence-agency-1426127401 |title=How Russian Spy Games Are Sabotaging Ukraine's Intelligence Agency |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=March 11, 2015 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-date=May 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519154556/https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-spy-games-are-sabotaging-ukraines-intelligence-agency-1426127401}}</ref> It was created in September 1991 following the August 1991 [[independence of Ukraine]].<ref name="969SecSevUkr" /> The last Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic's Branch head Colonel-General [[Nikolai Golushko]] stayed on as chairman of the newly formed Security Service of Ukraine for four months before moving to Russia.<ref name="969SecSevUkr" /> (Golushko headed the Russian [[Federal Counterintelligence Service]] in 1993 and 1994.<ref name="969SecSevUkr" />)

Since 1992, the agency has been competing in [[intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence]] functions with the [[Chief directorate of intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine|intelligence branch of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense]]. Despite this, a former Military Intelligence Chief and career [[GRU (Russian Federation)|GRU]] technological espionage expert, [[Ihor Smeshko]], served as an SBU chief until 2005.

According to [[Taras Kuzio]] during the 1990s in some regions of Ukraine (Donetsk) the SBU teamed up with local criminals taking part in privatization of state property (so-called ''prykhvatizatsiya'') ignoring its operational objectives and sky-rocketing level of local violence. A notorious incident took place in December 1995 in Western Ukraine when a local citizen Yuriy Mozola was arrested by SBU agents, interrogated and brutally tortured for three days. He refused to confess in trumped up murder charges and died in SBU custody. Later it turned out that the real killer was [[Anatoly Onoprienko]]. He was arrested the next year.<ref name=kuzio />

Reports of SBU involvement in arms sales abroad began appearing regularly in the early 2000s.<ref name=wpusbfrs /> Ukrainian authorities have acknowledged these sales and arrested some alleged participants.<ref name=wpusbfrs />

In 2004, the SBU's Intelligence Department was reorganized into an independent agency called [[Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine]]. It is responsible for all kinds of intelligence as well as for external security. As of 2004, the exact functions of the new service, and respective responsibilities of the [[Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine]] were not regulated yet. On November 7, 2005, the President of Ukraine created the Ukraine State Service of special communications and protection of information, also known as Derzhspetszvyazok (StateSpecCom) in place of one of the departments of SBU and making it an autonomous agency. The SBU subsumed the Directorate of State Protection of Ukraine ({{langx|uk|Управління державної охорони України}}), the personal protection agency for the most senior government officials, which was the former Ninth Directorate of the Ukrainian KGB.

The SBU's State Directorate of Personal Protection is known for its former Major [[Mykola Mel'nychenko]], the [[communications protection]] agent in President [[Leonid Kuchma]]'s [[bodyguard]] team. Mel'nychenko was the central figure of the [[Cassette Scandal]] (2000)—one of the main events in Ukraine's post-independence history. SBU became involved in the case when Mel'nychenko accused Leonid Derkach, SBU Chief at the time, of several crimes, e.g., of clandestine relations with [[Russian mafia]] leader [[Semyon Mogilevich]]. However, the UDO was subsumed into the SBU after the scandal, so Mel'nychenko himself has never been an SBU agent.

Later, the SBU played a significant role in the [[Criminal procedure|investigation]] of the [[Georgiy R. Gongadze|Georgiy Gongadze]] murder case,<ref name=UP050630 /> the crime that caused the [[Cassette Scandal]] itself.

In 2004, General Valeriy Kravchenko, SBU's intelligence representative in Germany, publicly accused his agency of political involvement, including overseas spying on Ukrainian [[Opposition (politics)|opposition]] politicians and German TV journalists. He was fired without returning home. After a half-year of hiding in Germany, Kravchenko returned to Ukraine and surrendered in October 2004 (an investigation is underway).

Later, the agency commanders became involved in the scandal around the [[poison]]ing of [[Viktor Yushchenko]]—a main candidate in the [[2004 Ukrainian presidential election]]. Yushchenko felt unwell soon after supper with SBU Chief Ihor Smeshko, at the home of Smeshko's first deputy. However, neither the politician himself nor the investigators have ever directly accused these officers. The Personal Protection department has been officially responsible for Yushchenko's personal security since he became a candidate. During the [[Orange Revolution]], several SBU veterans and [[cadet]]s publicly supported him as president-elect, while the agency as a whole remained neutral.

===2005–2010===
In 2005, soon after the elections, sacked SBU Chief Smeshko and other intelligence agents stated their own version of the revolution's events. They claimed to have prevented [[Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine|militsiya]] from violently suppressing the protests, contradicting the orders of President Kuchma and threatening ''militsiya'' with armed involvement of SBU's [[special forces]] units. This story was first described by the American journalist C.J. Chivers of ''[[The New York Times]]'' and has never been supported with documents or legally.{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}}

An episode of human rights abuse by SBU happened during the case of [[serial killer]] [[Anatoly Onoprienko]]. Yuriy Mozola, an initial suspect in the investigation, died in SBU custody in [[Lviv]] as a result of [[torture]]. Several agents were convicted in the case.<ref name=UNHCR090717 /> The SBU remains a political controversial subject in Ukrainian politics.<ref name=IFUA081226 />
[[File:SBU agents in Kramatorsk, April 2014.png|thumb|SBU agents provide security during the [[Battle of Kramatorsk]], April 2014.]]

===2010–2014===
The former Security Service of Ukraine Head [[Valeriy Khoroshkovsky]] was involved in several controversies during his tenure. The rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv [[Borys Gudziak]] heavily criticized a visit from the SBU, forcing Khoroshkovskiy to apologize. Later the head of the Kyiv Bureau of the [[Konrad Adenauer Foundation]], [[Nico Lange]], was detained for a short while and released only after several high-ranking officials from the ''[[German Chancellery]]'' vouched for him. The Security Service described the incident as a misunderstanding.<ref>Cicero. Berlin. August 2019 p. 38 (in German)</ref>  Khoroshkovskiy, as the Chairman of the SBU, eliminated the main competition of Ukrainian TV-giant [[Inter (TV channel)|Inter]],{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} officially owned by his wife Olena Khoroshkovskiy, in the face of [[TVI (channel)|TVi]] and [[5 Kanal (Ukraine)|Channel 5]]. In July 2010, Konrad Schuller of the ''[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]'' wrote that Khoroshkovskiy had connections with [[RosUkrEnergo]].<ref name=Unian100720/><ref name=FAZ100719/><ref name=FAZ100714/> The most important source of Khoroshkovskiy's{{clarify|date=December 2014}} came from RosUkrEnergo.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} The President's spokesperson, [[Hanna Herman]], in an interview with this newspaper, did not dispute that [[Dmytro Firtash]] was one of the sponsors of the Presidential [[Party of Regions]], with the help of which Khoroshkovskiy was appointed to the position of the State Security chairman. Khoroshkovskiy denied any connections to RosUkrEnergo. However it is a fact{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} that Firtash possesses certain privileges in Inter. Schuller also stated that the SBU acts in direct association with RosUkrEnergo, arresting their main opponents (see [[RosUkrEnergo#History|RosUkrEnergo]]) to recover their invested money in the recent{{which|date=November 2014}} presidential campaign. Khoroshkovskiy having declined to give an interview to ''[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]'', Schuller posted a quote from one of his other interviews:

{{cquote|All my experience until now indicates that I am a patriot. ... I see through economic intrigues, crime, know methods of money laundering, banks that illegally exchange currency. ... My knowledge is much wider than most of those who work here.}}

When [[Ministry of Finance (Ukraine)|Minister of Finance]] Fedir Yaroshenko resigned on January 18, 2012, Khoroshkovsky replaced him in the post on the same day.<ref name=KP120119-Khor /> Khoroshkovsky is also the owner of [[U.A. Inter Media Group]] which owns major shares in various [[Television in Ukraine|Ukrainian TV channels]] including [[Inter TV]].<ref name=KP100612 /> 238 members of the [[Verkhovna Rada]] voted for Khoroshkovsky, however the head of the parliamentary committee for the National Security and Defense [[Anatoliy Hrytsenko]] stated that the committee accepted the decision to recommend Verkhovna Rada to deny the candidature of Khoroshkovskiy on the post of the chairman of Security Service of Ukraine.<ref name=Unian100311 />

Khoroshkovskiy said the SBU's main duty was to protect the president rather than the interests of Ukraine. On July 26, 2010, it arrested an internet blogger, producing a warrant for his arrest the next day. SBU accused the blogger of threatening the [[President of Ukraine]], citing his comment "May thunder strike Yanukovych!"; he was released after a short discussion.<ref name=Glav100802 /> However, SBU showed a rather passive reaction to the statements of the Russian state official who claimed that [[Crimea]] and [[Sevastopol]] belong to the [[Russian Federation]].<ref name=GR100722 /> [[Protest group]] [[FEMEN]] said that after [[2010 Ukrainian presidential election|the early 2010 election]] of President [[Viktor Yanukovych]] the SBU attempted to intimidate the FEMEN activists.<ref name=FEMENHell />

[[File:SBU_raid.jpg|left|thumb|A SBU raid against organized crime in [[Sumy Oblast]]]]

On May 22, 2012, Volodymyr Rokytskyi, Deputy Head of the SBU, was photographed in public wearing a $32,000 luxury wristwatch despite the fact that its price amounts to his yearly official income. The instance happened at a joint Ukrainian-American event dedicated to fighting the drug trade.<ref name=UP120523 />

The SBU uncovered seven spies and 16 special service agents in 2009.<ref name=IFU091230 /> A large number of arrests and searches occurred in 2011.<ref name=EP120111 />

===2014–2022===
[[File:СБУ блокувала діяльність фінансової піраміди, 02.jpg|thumb|SBU agents and [[Alpha Group (Ukraine)|Alpha Group]] operators during a raid against organizers of a [[pyramid scheme]] in 2020]]
In February 2014, numerous documents, hard drives, and flash drives, including data on over 22,000 officers and informants, were stolen or destroyed in a raid on the SBU allegedly ordered by President [[Viktor Yanukovych]].<ref name=Mash141230 />

Late February 2014 opposition MP [[Hennadiy Moskal]] released papers that showed the SBU had allegedly infiltrated the late 2013 – February 2014 anti-government [[Euromaidan]] protest.<ref name="usbbbc28214">[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26368479 Ukraine: Security services 'infiltrated protest groups'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423173806/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26368479 |date=April 23, 2016}}, [[BBC News]] (February 28, 2014)</ref> According to [[BBC Ukrainian|BBC Ukraine]] analyst [[Olexiy Solohubenko]], many tactics discussed in the paper had indeed been performed.<ref name="usbbbc28214" />

After the overthrow of Yanukovich in the [[Revolution of Dignity]] the new SBU head [[Valentyn Nalyvaichenko]] claimed to have found his new office building empty, saying "the agency's former leadership had all fled to Russia or [[Crimea]]. There were no operative files, no weapons. Institutionally, the place was totally destroyed".<ref name="voausb26715">[https://www.voanews.com/a/ex-ukrainian-spy-chief-russian-camps-spreading-chaos/2877981.html Ex-Ukrainian Spy Chief: Russian Camps Spreading Chaos], [[Voice of America]] (July 26, 2015)</ref> Nalyvaichenko also claimed that at that time the agency was heavily infiltrated by Russian spies.<ref name="voausb26715" /> Indeed, Nalyvaichenko predecessor [[Oleksandr Yakymenko (politician)|Oleksandr Yakymenko]] with about 15 former SBU top officials surfaced in Russia a few days later.<ref name=Mash141230 /> Allegedly in the months following the Revolution of Dignity thousands of Ukrainian spies switched sides and began reporting to Russia during the [[2014 Crimean crisis]] and the [[2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine|pro-Russian unrest]] in [[East Ukraine|east]] and [[south Ukraine]].<ref name=Mash141230 /> At the end of 2014 235 SBU agents, including the former counterintelligence chief and his cousin, and hundreds of other operatives had been arrested and 25 [[high treason]] probes against Yanukovych-era SBU officials had been launched; also all regional directors had been changed, as well as half of their deputies.<ref name=Mash141230 /> In July 2015 Nalyvaichenko claimed "There's no longer a total infiltration of Russian agents. The danger is no longer widespread".<ref name="voausb26715" /> The arrested agents were replaced by new recruits from [[western Ukraine]], many of them in their early twenties.<ref name=Mash141230 /> To test loyalty, all SBU agents are subjected to recurrent interrogations and [[lie detector]] tests.<ref name=Mash141230 />

In June 2015, the ''[[Kyiv Post]]'' reported that a deputy chief of the SBU, Vitaly Malikov, had supported events leading to the [[annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|annexation of Crimea]].<ref name=KP150628 /> According to February 2016 official figures of the [[Ukrainian parliament]]ary Committee on National Security, after Russia's annexation 10% of SBU personnel left Crimea.<ref>{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/8/7098237/ After the annexation left only 10% of staff SBU] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209094509/http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/8/7098237/ |date=February 9, 2016}}, ''[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]'' (February 8, 2016)</ref> According to the SBU itself (in November 2017) 13% did so.<ref>{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2017/11/7/7160923/ After the annexation, only 217 SBU officers went to the mainland] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108035802/http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2017/11/7/7160923/ |date=November 8, 2017}}, ''[[Ukrayinska Pravda]]'' (November 7, 2017)</ref>

In 2016, [[Amnesty International]] and [[Human Rights Watch]] reported that the SBU operates [[Secret detention centers of SBU|secret detention facilities]] where civilians are held incommunicado being subjected to improper treatment and torture.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur50/4455/2016/en/ |title=Ukraine: "You don't exist": Arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and torture in Eastern Ukraine |author=Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch |date=July 21, 2016 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=February 22, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207015151/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur50/4455/2016/en/ |archive-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref>

In 2017, the [[United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine]] (HRMMU) expressed concerns about a situation with "freedom of opinion and expression" in Ukraine which facing "mounting challenges". According to the UN reports the SBU is taking advantage of broad interpretation and application of Ukrainian Criminal Code against independent Ukrainian journalists, bloggers, and media activists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/UAReport20th_EN.pdf |title=Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 August to 15 November 2017 |website=www.ohchr.org |publisher=United Nations |access-date=February 28, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228223256/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/UAReport20th_EN.pdf |archive-date=February 28, 2018}}</ref> According to reports of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the SBU personnel is responsible for multiple cases of human rights abuses including sexual violence and torture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/UAReport19th_EN.pdf |title=Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 May to 15 August 2017 |publisher=United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |access-date=February 22, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20171202184420/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/UAReport19th_EN.pdf |archive-date=December 2, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/ReportCRSV_EN.pdf |title=Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Ukraine 14 March 2014 to 31 January 2017 |publisher=United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights |access-date=February 22, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207015148/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/ReportCRSV_EN.pdf |archive-date=February 7, 2018}}</ref>

A new fifth directorate of SBU was created in 2015 to act as a saboteur force. It was associated with several assassinations of prominent pro-Russian commanders in Donbas: [[Alexander Zakharchenko]], [[Mikhail Tolstykh]] and [[Arsen Pavlov]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Inside Ukraine's assassination programme |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/09/05/inside-ukraines-assassination-programme |access-date=7 September 2023 |publisher=The Economist |date=5 September 2023}}</ref>

On December 21, 2017, two Ukrainian civil servants were arrested by the SBU for spying on behalf of Russia, one of them being an SBU employee while the other, Stanislav Yezhov, worked for various cabinet ministers.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last=Sharkov |first=Damian |url=https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-two-russian-spies-arrested-double-agents-inside-kievs-own-ranks-755504 |title=Ukraine Arrests Two 'Russian Spies' as Double Agents Inside Kiev's Ranks |date=December 21, 2017 |access-date=October 19, 2020}}</ref>

In late 2018, the SBU carried out raids across the country targeting the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)]] churches and priests.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vasina |first1=Olena |last2=Williams |first2=Matthias |title=Ukraine's security service raids home of Russian-backed monastery head |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-church/ukraines-security-service-raids-home-of-russian-backed-monastery-head-idUSKCN1NZ1I1 |publisher=Reuters |date=November 30, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine raids Orthodox churches with Russia ties |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20181203-ukraine-raids-orthodox-churches-russia-ties-putin-poroshenko-azov-crimea |work=France 24 |date=December 3, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine set to establish new church, secure split from Russia |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/ukraine-set-establish-church-secure-split-russia-181215075840519.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=December 15, 2018}}</ref>

On July 8, 2019, the SBU announced that they conducted a raid into areas held by the [[Donetsk People's Republic]] to apprehend Vladimir Borysovich Tsemakh, who was head of the air defense in [[Snizhne]] and a 'person of interest' when a [[Buk missile system|Buk missile launcher]] was used to [[Malaysia Airlines Flight 17|shoot down MH17]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/07/09/the-arrest-of-vladimir-tsemakh-and-its-implications-for-the-mh17-investigation/ |title=The Arrest of Vladimir Tsemakh and Its Implications for the MH17 Investigation |work=[[Bellingcat]] |date=July 9, 2019 |access-date=October 19, 2020}}</ref> The SBU mentioned that he's a witness to the incident.<ref>{{cite news |last=Luhn |first=Alec |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/05/ukraine-captures-separatist-believed-linked-mh17/ |title=Ukraine captures separatist believed to be linked to MH17 |work=Telegraph |date=July 5, 2019 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-date=July 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705170347/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/05/ukraine-captures-separatist-believed-linked-mh17/}}</ref>

On April 14, 2020, the SBU announced the arrest of Lt. General {{Ill|Valeriy Shaytanov|uk|Шайтанов Валерій Альбертович}}, who was recruited in 2014 by the FSB during a Russian-Ukrainian anti-terrorist working group under the command of Colonel {{Ill|Igor Anatolievich Egorov|uk|Єгоров Ігор Анатолійович}}.<ref name="News">{{cite news |url=https://ssu.gov.ua/en/news/1/category/2/view/7448#.8kZ9Tb1n.dpbs |title=SBU exposes a general working for the Russian FSB |work=Security Service of Ukraine website |date=April 14, 2020 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426044328/https://ssu.gov.ua/en/news/1/category/2/view/7448}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-sbu-fsb/30552781.html |title=Служба безпеки України: затриманий генерал, який працював на ФСБ Росії |trans-title=Security Service of Ukraine: detained general who worked for the FSB of Russia |work=[[Radio Svoboda]] |date=April 14, 2020 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |language=uk}}</ref> He was known to head the anti-terrorist division who had played a prominent role in negotiating ceasefires and prisoner exchanges with Russia-backed militants in Eastern Ukraine.<ref name="News" /> He had planned the future assassination of [[Adam Osmayev]], a Chechen in the [[Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion|International Peacekeeping Battalion named after Dzhokhar Dudayev]] which is defending Ukraine against Russia aggression.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-valery-shaitanov/30882633.html |title=Офіс генпрокурора направив до суду справу генерала СБУ Шайтанова, якого підозрюють у держзраді |trans-title=The Prosecutor General's Office sent to court the case of SBU General Shaitanov, who is suspected of treason |work=[[Radio Svoboda]] |date=October 8, 2020 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Стек |first1=Левко (Stek, Levko) |last2=Гриценко |first2=Олексій (Gritsenko, Alexey) |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29365156.html |title=Адам Осмаєв про замахи, Аміну Окуєву і чеченців на Донбасі. Ексклюзивне інтерв'ю |trans-title=Adam Osmayev about the assassination attempts, Amin Okuyev and the Chechens in Donbas. Exclusive interview |work=Radio Svoboda |date=July 16, 2018 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |language=uk}}</ref>

=== 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine ===
[[File:UA SSU operator (1).jpg|thumb|SBU agent arresting a suspected Russian spy during the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]]]]
With the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the SBU started to conduct extensive [[counter-espionage]] against Russian intelligence services. The SBU captured [[Fifth column|fifth-columnists]], Russian sympathizers, collaborators, spies and infiltrators.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-29 |title=Ukraine cracks down on 'traitors' helping Russian troops |url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-europe-kharkiv-51c514b6dc9cc1f935e018e4877222cc |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref> The SBU, with help of the American [[NSA]] and [[CIA]], also broke through the Russian encrypted cellphone services, intercepting phone calls to find valuable targets or other useful intelligence. [[List of Russian generals killed during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine|Several Russian generals died]] due to the intercepted calls.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bryen |first=Stephen |date=2022-05-26 |title=The fatal failure of Russia's ERA cryptophone system |url=https://asiatimes.com/2022/05/the-fatal-failure-of-russias-era-cryptophone-system/ |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=Asia Times |language=en-US}}</ref> They also published many supposed intercepted phone calls on their website, showing morale issues or admissions of [[war crimes]] by Russian troops.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vavra |first=Shannon |date=2022-05-09 |title=Russians Caught in Bitchfest Over Putin's 'Bullshit' Victory Day |language=en |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/intercepted-calls-catch-russians-slamming-vladimir-putins-bullshit-victory-day |access-date=2022-06-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Intercepted audio said Russian soldiers almost blew up a top general for ordering them to the front line, Ukraine says |url=https://ca.news.yahoo.com/intercepted-audio-shows-russian-soldiers-102055444.html |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=ca.news.yahoo.com |date=May 31, 2022 |language=en-CA}}</ref>

On March 5, 2022, SBU agents shot and killed [[Denys Kireyev]], a member of Ukraine's negotiating delegation during the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], while he was being arrested.<ref name="pravda-2022-Kireev">{{cite news |last1=Kravets |first1=Roman |title=The SBU shot a Ukrainian negotiator in Gomel during detention - sources |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2022/03/5/7328458/ |access-date=5 March 2022 |work=[[Ukrayinska Pravda]] |date=5 March 2022}}</ref> According to the SBU, Kireyev was suspected of treason and was claimed to have clear evidence of him working for the enemy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unian.net/politics/sbu-ubili-chlena-ukrainskoy-delegacii-denisa-kireeva-podozrevaemogo-v-gosizmene-novosti-ukraina-11730304.html|title=СБУ убила члена украинской делегации Дениса Киреева, подозреваемого в госизмене|website=UNIAN|date=5 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.interfax.ru/world/826552|title=Нардеп сообщил, что участника переговоров от Украины убили при задержании за госизмену|website=Interfax|date=5 March 2022}}</ref> However in August 18, later the [[Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine]] (GUR) disclosed the information that he was their agent and that he "died while performing special tasks" for the GUR.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Україна втратила своїх відданих синів |url=https://gur.gov.ua/content/ukraina-vtratyla-svoikh-viddanykh-syniv.html |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=gur.gov.ua}}</ref>

On April 12, 2022, the SBU announced they had arrested [[Viktor Medvedchuk]], an ally of [[Vladimir Putin]], in what Bakanov called a "a lightning-fast and dangerous multi-level special operation"; a treason case was opened against Medvedchuk the previous year and in February, and authorities said that Medvedchuk that escaped from house arrest.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-04-12 |title=Ukraine secret service says it has arrested top Putin ally |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-president-publishes-photo-pro-russian-politician-handcuffs-2022-04-12/ |access-date=2022-04-12}}</ref>

On July 17, 2022, Head of the SBU [[Ivan Bakanov]] was dismissed by President [[Volodymyr Zelenskyy]].<ref name=":1" /> While a long-time associate and personal friend of Zelenskyy, Bakanov was accused of allowing treason and collaboration of SBU agents with Russia, and failing to uproot them.<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Tim |last1=Lister |first2=Mariya |last2=Knight |title=Zelensky fires top officials over staffers' 'collaboration' with Russia |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/17/europe/zelensky-fires-top-officials-intl/index.html |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=CNN|date=July 17, 2022 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2022-07-18 |title=Ukraine names corruption department head as acting security agency chief |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-security-chief-prosecutor-general-suspended-senior-official-2022-07-18/ |access-date=2022-07-22}}</ref> [[Vasyl Malyuk]], the first Deputy Head of the SBU, was appointed as acting Head of the SBU.<ref name=":2" /> It has been reported that the SBU was in a bad state at the time. The Kherson region SBU head had withdrawn agents before Russia's occupation, against orders. There was nepotism. The SBU was considered to be penetrated by Russian agents; Malyuk prioritised removing them. Malyuk's effectiveness in this was a factor in the success of the 2025 [[Operation Spiderweb]] attack on Russian airbases, highly dependent on secrecy, which did not leak.<ref name=boffey/>

According to ''[[Ukrainska Pravda]]'' and the [[Ukrainian Independent Information Agency|UNIAN]], the [[2022 Crimean Bridge explosion|October 2022 Crimean Bridge explosion]] was carried out by the SBU.<ref name="PravdaSBU">{{Cite web |title=Security Service of Ukraine behind explosion on Crimean bridge |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/10/8/7370891/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008135229/https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/10/8/7370891/ |archive-date=8 October 2022 |access-date=8 October 2022 |website=[[Ukrainska Pravda]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="MeduzaSBU">{{Cite news |title=Украинские СМИ со ссылкой на источник сообщили, что взрыв на Крымском мосту – операция СБУ |trans-title=Ukrainian media, citing a source, reported that the explosion on the Crimean bridge was an SBU operation. |work=[[Meduza]] |url=https://meduza.io/news/2022/10/08/ukrainskaya-pravda-so-ssylkoy-na-istochnik-soobschila-chto-vzryv-na-krymskom-mostu-operatsiya-sbu |url-status=live |access-date=8 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008150643/https://meduza.io/news/2022/10/08/ukrainskaya-pravda-so-ssylkoy-na-istochnik-soobschila-chto-vzryv-na-krymskom-mostu-operatsiya-sbu |archive-date=8 October 2022 |language=ru}}</ref>

On August 7, 2023, Ukrainian Security Service has arrested a woman in relation to an attempt to assassinate President [[Zelenskyy]]. The unnamed woman was accused of supplying information for a Russian air strike.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://abcnews.go.com/International/woman-arrested-plot-kill-president-volodymyr-zelenskyy-ukraine/story?id=102065597 |title= Woman arrested in plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine says |date=2023-08-07 |publisher=ABCnews|author1= Yulia Drozd|author2= Kevin Shalvey}}</ref>

On August 12, 2024, SBU alleged that Russia was attempting to falsely accuse Kyiv's military of committing war crimes, as Ukraine advanced with a ground incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Meanwhile, Russian state media reported that [[Alexei Smirnov (politician)|Alexei Smirnov]], accused Ukrainian forces of using chemical weapons. Smirnov also stated that Ukraine had seized control of 28 settlements in the region.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ukraine says Russia tries to accuse it of false war crimes in Kursk |date=12 August 2024 |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-russia-tries-accuse-it-false-war-crimes-kursk-2024-08-12/ |access-date=13 August 2024}}</ref>

On June 1, 2025, the SBU carried out a [[Operation Spider's Web|massive attack on multiple Russian air bases]]. The air bases struck were the Belaya air base, the Dyagilevo air base, the Olenya airbase, the Ivanovo airbase, and the Voznesensk airbase. The SBU smuggled in drones in cargo containers into Russia, which were then driven near airbases. The drivers of the trucks carrying the cargo containers were not SBU operatives, but unknowing Russian truckers, with the SBU already having all of their people withdrawn to Ukraine before the attack. When activated, the thin covers of the containers would slid off and the drones would take off and attack the bombers. Video footage shows rows of bombers being destroyed by the drones, causing significant damage to the parked bombers. The attack resulted in the destruction and damage of 41 aircraft, including Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, as well as at least one A-50 AWACS aircraft. The damage was valued at an approximate $2 billion, with many of the aircraft destroyed not in production.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-01 |title='Russian bombers are burning en masse' — Ukraine's SBU drones hit 'more than 40' aircraft in mass attack, source says |url=https://kyivindependent.com/enemy-bombers-are-burning-en-masse-ukraines-sbu-drones-hit-more-than-40-russian-aircraft/ |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=The Kyiv Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=SBU drones hit over 40 Russian bombers, including A-50, Tu-95, in special operation |url=https://english.nv.ua/nation/sbu-targets-over-40-russian-aircraft-including-at-belaya-airfield-video-shows-50518605.html |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=New Voice |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-01 |title=Russian Key Strategic Airbases Under Massive Attacks. Here’s What We Know |url=https://united24media.com/latest-news/russian-key-strategic-airbases-under-massive-attacks-heres-what-we-know-8797 |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=UNITED24 Media |language=en}}</ref> On June 3, the SBU carried out an [[2025 Crimean Bridge explosion|attack]] on the [[Crimean Bridge]], detonating underwater explosives damaging the bridge support structure.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-06-03 |title=Ukraine says it hit Russia's bridge to Crimea with underwater explosives |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-says-it-hit-russias-bridge-crimea-with-underwater-explosives-2025-06-03/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref>

==== Assassinations ====
SBU was connected to a number of targeted attacks on Russian military personnel and pro-Kremlin figures. Ukraine said it was behind the killing of a senior Russian naval officer in a car in Crimea. SBU said it was also responsible for the killing of a high-ranking officer in the GRU military intelligence service, who was assassinated outside his house in a village in the Moscow region.

SBU said it assassinated Mikhail Shatsky, a leading Russian missile scientist who worked on upgrading cruise missiles used on the battlefield in Ukraine. His body was discovered in Kuzminsky forest park, at [[Kotelniki]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Sauer |first=Pjotr |date=2024-12-17 |title=Russian general in charge of chemical weapons unit killed in Moscow scooter blast |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/17/lieutenant-general-igor-kirillov-russian-general-killed-moscow-explosion-chemical-weapons |access-date=2024-12-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In December 2024 the head of the Russian army’s chemical weapons division [[Igor Kirillov (officer)|Igor Kirillov]] was killed by an explosive device attached to a scooter outside an apartment building in Moscow. It was the most targeted assassination of a senior military official since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to Guardian.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukraine says it killed Russian general Igor Kirillov in Moscow |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2ek388yxzo |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

Apart from military figures, Ukraine assassinated [[Darya Dugina]], daughter of Russian ideologue and ultranationalist [[Aleksandr Dugin]], who was killed in August 2022 when a car bomb exploded her [[Toyota Land Cruiser]]. The assassination attempt was originally targeted at her father.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-23 |title=Washington Post: Ukraine conducts 'high-value' assassinations inside Russia |url=https://kyivindependent.com/washington-post-sbu-behind-duginas-death-target-was-her-father/ |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=The Kyiv Independent |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Standard of Ukrainian Security Service Head.png|thumb|Standard of the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine]]

===Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)===
{{main|Head of the Security Service of Ukraine}}
[[File:Баканов Іван Геннадійович.jpeg|thumb|288x288px|Former Director of the SBU from 2019 to 2022 [[Ivan Bakanov]]]]
*''establishment September 20, 1991''
* [[Nikolai Golushko]] (acting; September 20, 1991 – November 6, 1991)
* [[Yevhen Marchuk]] (November 6, 1991 – July 12, 1994)
* [[Valeriy Malikov]] (July 12, 1994 – July 3, 1995)
* [[Volodymyr Radchenko]] (July 3, 1995 – April 22, 1998)
* [[Leonid Derkach]] (April 22, 1998 – February 10, 2001)
* [[Volodymyr Radchenko]] (February 10, 2001 – September 2, 2003)
* [[Ihor Smeshko]] (September 4, 2003 – February 4, 2005)
* [[Oleksandr Turchynov]] (February 4, 2005 – September 8, 2005)
* [[Ihor Drizhchany]]<ref name=AG-Drizchany /> (September 8, 2005 – December 22, 2006)
* [[Valentyn Nalyvaichenko]] (December 22, 2006 – March 11, 2010)
* [[Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi|Valeriy Khoroshkovsky]] (March 11, 2010 – January 18, 2012)<ref name="KP120119-Khor" />
* [[Volodymyr Rokytsky]] (acting; January 19, 2012 – February 3, 2012)<ref name=KP120203 /><ref name=KP120119-Rok />
* [[Ihor Kalinin (official)|Ihor Kalinin]] (February 3, 2012 – January 9, 2013)<ref name=KP120203 />
* [[Oleksandr Yakymenko (politician)|Oleksandr Yakymenko]] (January 9, 2013 – February 24, 2014)<ref name=KP130110 /><ref name=nmNaly />
* [[Valentyn Nalyvaichenko]] (February 24, 2014 – June 18, 2015)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-sbu-chief-dismissed/27079084.html |title=Ukrainian Security Service Chief Fired |publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|REF/RL]] |date=June 18, 2015 |access-date=June 18, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618171727/http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-sbu-chief-dismissed/27079084.html |archive-date=June 18, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.unian.info/politics/1090857-rada-dismisses-sbu-chief-nalyvaichenko.html |title=Rada dismisses SBU chief Nalyvaichenko |publisher=[[UNIAN]] |date=June 18, 2015 |access-date=June 18, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618161756/http://www.unian.info/politics/1090857-rada-dismisses-sbu-chief-nalyvaichenko.html |archive-date=June 18, 2015}}</ref>
*[[Vasyl Hrytsak]] (July 2, 2015 – August 29, 2019)<ref>[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/275494.html Rada appoints Vasyl Hrytsak Ukrainian Security Service chief] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703010126/http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/275494.html |date=July 3, 2015}}, (July 2, 2015)</ref>
*[[Ivan Bakanov]] (August 29, 2019 – July 17, 2022)<ref name="pravda.com.ua">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2019/08/29/7224800/|title=Рада затвердила людину Зеленського на чолі СБУ|website=Українська правда}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ №499/2022 |url=https://www.president.gov.ua/documents/4992022-43321 |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=ПРЕЗИДЕНТ УКРАЇНИ}}</ref>
*[[Vasyl Malyuk]], February 7, 2023<ref name="64530447Malyuk"/> – present (acting head from July 17, 2022<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2022-07-18 |title=Ukraine names corruption department head as acting security agency chief |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-security-chief-prosecutor-general-suspended-senior-official-2022-07-18/ |access-date=2022-07-22}}</ref> to February 7, 2023)

==<small>Presidential Commissioner in control of Security Service of Ukraine activities</small>==
* Dmytro Yarmak<ref>[http://dovidka.com.ua/user/?code=482224 Dmytro Yarmak]. Official Ukraine Today.</ref> (2017–2019)
* Roman Semenchenko<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/2797490-president-appoints-commissioner-for-control-over-sbu-activities.html|title=President appoints commissioner for control over SBU activities|agency=[[Ukrinform]]|date=October 11, 2019|access-date=November 21, 2019}}</ref> (2019–present)

==Service medals==
<gallery>
File:Медаль «Ветеран служби» (СБУ).png|25 years in service
File:Медаль «20 років сумлінної служби» (СБУ).png|20 years in service
File:Медаль «15 років сумлінної служби» (СБУ).png|15 years in service
File:Медаль «10 років сумлінної служби» (СБУ).png|10 years in service
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[All-Ukrainian Extraordinary Commission]]
* [[Federal Security Service (Russia)]]
* [[Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine]]
* [[Kontrrazvedka]]
* [[Main Directorate of Intelligence (Ukraine)]]
{{-}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=

<ref name=SBU-Objectives>{{cite web |url=http://www.sbu.gov.ua/sbu/control/en/publish/article?art_id=83745&cat_id=83637 |title=Objectives and Duties of the SSU |publisher=Official website of SBU |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418102520/http://www.sbu.gov.ua/sbu/control/en/publish/article?art_id=83745&cat_id=83637 |archive-date=April 18, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name=vuchk>{{cite web |url=http://leksika.com.ua/12210518/legal/vseukrayinska_nadzvichayna_komisiya |title=All Ukrainian Extraordinary Commission |publisher=leksika.com.ua |access-date=October 30, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030195803/http://leksika.com.ua/12210518/legal/vseukrayinska_nadzvichayna_komisiya |archive-date=October 30, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name=Lek-AUCEC>{{cite web |url=http://leksika.com.ua/15531201/ure/vseukrayinska_nadzvichayna_komisiya_po_borotbi_z_kontrrevolyutsiyeyu_spekulyatsiyeyu_ta_sluzhbovimi_zlochinami |title=All Ukrainian Cheka |publisher=leksika.com.ua |access-date=October 30, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030195007/http://leksika.com.ua/15531201/ure/vseukrayinska_nadzvichayna_komisiya_po_borotbi_z_kontrrevolyutsiyeyu_spekulyatsiyeyu_ta_sluzhbovimi_zlochinami |archive-date=October 30, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name=Day100819>{{cite news |url=http://www.day.kiev.ua/306455/ |title=ЦЕЙ ДЕНЬ В IСТОРIЇ |language=uk |trans-title=This day in history |work=Den |date=August 19, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820034105/http://www.day.kiev.ua/306455 |archive-date=August 20, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name=IFU091230>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/seven-spies-16-special-service-agents-exposed-in-u-56181.html |title=Seven spies, 16 special service agents exposed in Ukraine in 2009 |work=Interfax-Ukraine |publisher=[[Kyiv Post]] |date=December 30, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230175813/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/seven-spies-16-special-service-agents-exposed-in-u-56181.html |archive-date=December 30, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name=KP120119-Khor>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/120811/ |title=Yanukovych dismisses Khoroshkovsky from military service |work=[[Kyiv Post]] |date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119192747/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/120811/ |archive-date=January 19, 2012}}</ref>

<ref name=KP120119-Rok>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/120804/ |title=Yanukovych appoints Rokytsky as acting SBU chief |work=[[Kyiv Post]] |date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210235845/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/120804/ |archive-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref>

<ref name=KP120203>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/121777/ |title=Yanukovych names new Kalinin as state security chief |work=[[Kyiv Post]] |date=February 3, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209115500/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/121777/ |archive-date=February 9, 2012}}</ref>

<ref name=KP130110>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/president-calls-on-officials-for-joint-work-on-reform-in-sbu-318649.html |title=President calls on officials for joint work on reform in SBU |work=[[Kyiv Post]] |date=January 10, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826024225/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/president-calls-on-officials-for-joint-work-on-reform-in-sbu-318649.html |archive-date=August 26, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name=nmNaly>{{cite news |url=http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/192522.html |title=Ukrainian parliament appoints Nalyvaichenko as security service chief |work=[[Interfax-Ukraine]] |date=February 24, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228044634/http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/192522.html |archive-date=February 28, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name=Unian100720>{{cite news |url=http://unian.net/ukr/news/news-387463.html |script-title=uk:Німецька преса – про «ладно зачесаного шефа СБУ» |language=uk |trans-title=German press about the Chief of SBU |publisher=UNIAN |date=July 20, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726113326/http://www.unian.net/ukr/news/news-387463.html |archive-date=July 26, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name=FAZ100714>{{cite news |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/ukraine-inszenierung-eines-missverstaendnisses-11011129.html |title=Inszenierung eines Missverständnisses |language=de |trans-title=A misunderstanding |first=Konrad |last=Schuller |work=FAZ |date=July 14, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230171116/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/ukraine-inszenierung-eines-missverstaendnisses-11011129.html |archive-date=December 30, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name=FAZ100719>{{cite news |url=https://www.faz.net/IN/INtemplates/faznet/default.asp?tpl=common/zwischenseite.asp&dx2={ABD4CD86-21AB-6B4D-8C76-AE98014AF4B4}&rub={0648F7DD-FE11-4B62-A2F6-0E01C0937822} |title=Original article |language=de |first=Konrad |last=Schuller |work=FAZ |date=July 19, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name=UP050630>{{cite news |url=http://pravda.com.ua/news/2005/6/30/5793.htm |title=Gongadze Case Investigation |language=uk |work=Ukrayinska Pravda |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312030845/http://pravda.com.ua/news/2005/6/30/5793.htm |archive-date=March 12, 2007}}</ref>

<ref name=AG-Drizchany>{{cite news |url=http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=377 |title=Igor Drizhchany's Complex Inheritance |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215053201/http://axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=377 |archive-date=February 15, 2006}}</ref>

<ref name=EP120111>{{cite news |url=http://www.epravda.com.ua/publications/2012/01/11/312379/ |script-title=uk:ТОП-5 арештів і "маски-шоу" 2011 року |language=uk |trans-title=The top-5 arrests and mask-shows in 2011 |work=Ekonomichna Pravda |date=January 11, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113004344/http://www.epravda.com.ua/publications/2012/01/11/312379/ |archive-date=January 13, 2012}}</ref>

<ref name=UNHCR090717>{{cite web |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,AMNESTY,,UKR,4562d8b62,3ae6aa002c,0.html |title=Amnesty International Report 1997 – Ukraine |date=July 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008134011/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,AMNESTY,,UKR,4562d8b62,3ae6aa002c,0.html |archive-date=October 8, 2012}}</ref>

<ref name=IFUA081226>{{cite news |url=http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/3943/ |title=Ukrainian MPs ask prosecution to probe Security Service head on several claims |publisher=[[Interfax|Interfax-Ukraine]] |date=December 26, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228184427/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/3943/ |archive-date=December 28, 2008}}</ref>

<ref name=KP100612>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/69444/ |title=Khoroshkovsky ready to sell his media business |work=[[Kyiv Post]] |date=June 12, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215132120/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/69444/ |archive-date=February 15, 2011}}</ref>

<ref name=Unian100311>{{cite news |url=http://www.unian.net/ukr/news/news-366895.html |script-title=uk:СБУ віддали Хорошковському |language=uk |trans-title=SBU was given to Khoroshkovskiy |agency=UNIAN |date=March 11, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314061811/http://unian.net/ukr/news/news-366895.html |archive-date=March 14, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name=Glav100802>{{cite news |url=http://glavred.info/archive/2010/08/02/102221-4.html |title=Yanukovych was damned by a blog |language=ru, uk |publisher=glavred.info |date=August 2, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805230409/http://www.glavred.info/archive/2010/08/02/102221-4.html |archive-date=August 5, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name=GR100722>{{cite news |url=http://www.glavred.info/archive/2010/07/22/171704-5.html |title=Luzhkov again returned to his routine |language=ru, uk |publisher=glavred.info |date=July 22, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725082416/http://glavred.info/archive/2010/07/22/171704-5.html |archive-date=July 25, 2010}}</ref>

<ref name=UP120523>{{cite news |url=http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/05/23/6965120/ |script-title=uk:Головний борець із корупцією з СБУ носить годинник дорожчий за його річну зарплату |language=uk |work=Ukrayinska Pravda |date=May 23, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525195749/http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/05/23/6965120/ |archive-date=May 25, 2012}}</ref>

<ref name=FEMENHell>{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,760697,00.html |title=The Entire Ukraine Is a Brothel |work=[[Spiegel Online]] |date=May 5, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103004648/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,760697,00.html |archive-date=November 3, 2011}}</ref>

<ref name=Mash141230>{{cite news |url=http://mashable.com/2014/12/30/russian-vs-ukrainian-spies/ |title=Ukraine's top intelligence agency deeply infiltrated by Russian spies |first=Christopher |last=Miller |work=[[Mashable]] |date=December 30, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701141114/http://mashable.com/2014/12/30/russian-vs-ukrainian-spies/ |archive-date=July 1, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name=KP150628>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/video-appears-to-show-top-security-official-backing-kremlin-backed-separatists-video-392229.html |title=Video appears to show top security official supporting Kremlin-backed separatists (VIDEO) |first=Oleg |last=Sukhov |work=[[Kyiv Post]] |date=June 28, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701150246/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/video-appears-to-show-top-security-official-backing-kremlin-backed-separatists-video-392229.html |archive-date=July 1, 2015}}</ref>

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}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official|https://ssu.gov.ua/en }} {{in lang|uk|en}}
* {{YouTube|channel=UCRxyjhmvBewJIRb2yku5EuQ|title=Служба безпеки України (Security Service of Ukraine)}}
* {{cite news |url=http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/portal/Soc_Gum/NZTNPU_ist/2009_2/materialy/2009_2/Kuzminets.pdf |title=Extraordinary Commissions in Podillia |language=uk |publisher=NBUV}}

{{National Intelligence Agencies}}
{{Ukraine topics}}
{{Law enforcement in Ukraine}}
{{Presidency of Ukraine}}
{{National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine}}
{{Euromaidan}}
{{2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Security Service Of Ukraine}}
[[Category:Security Service of Ukraine| ]]
[[Category:1991 establishments in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1991]]
[[Category:Law enforcement agencies of Ukraine]]
[[Category:Presidency of Ukraine]]
[[Category:Ukrainian intelligence agencies]]