Photo: SBU
But Maliuk promised to remain within the system, though his future position is not yet known.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed Yevhen Khmara, head of the SBU’s Alpha Special Operations Center, as acting chief of the Security Service of Ukraine, according to presidential decree No. 19/2026.
Khmara replaces Lieutenant General Vasyl Maliuk, who earlier on the same day announced that he was stepping down as head of the SBU but said he would remain within the service. His resignation must still be approved by parliament.
“Yevhen Leonidovych Khmara, head of the Alpha Special Operations Center of the Security Service of Ukraine, is hereby appointed to temporarily perform the duties of head of the Security Service of Ukraine,” the decree says.
Earlier, President Zelensky also signed a separate decree regulating the SBU’s organizational procedures. It allows the president, during martial law, to appoint an acting head of the Security Service in the event of the temporary absence of its chief. Without this decree, the post would have automatically gone to Maliuk’s first deputy.
Major General Khmara has served in the Security Service of Ukraine since before the full-scale war. In March 2019, then-president Petro Poroshenko awarded him the Order of Danylo Halytsky. Maliuk has previously noted that the Alpha Special Operations Center conducts unique missions behind enemy lines and has demonstrated strong results on the battlefield.
