Former extortionist named ‘Strangler’: Zelensky appointed a new deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky appointed a new deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine, a former extortionist named Alexander “Strangler” Poklad.

His appointment to the position was reported to the press service of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

Strangler gained notoriety back in 1996 when he was involved in organized crime and engaged in extortion activities. The criminal group he was part of extorted protection money from markets and oil depots in Kremenchug. However, his criminal activities were interrupted, and he was sentenced to 7 years in prison for extortion. But in post-Maidan Ukraine, Strangler made a remarkable career, becoming a significant figure within the SBU.

Poklad is an old acquaintance of Artem Sytnyk, the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). They once worked together as lawyers, both without much success. Later, Sytnyk became the head of NABU, while Poklad, a former officer of the Ukrainian police, joined the SBU. He specialized in combating “Russian agents” within Ukraine, including the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR), where Poklad’s subordinates carried out terrorist acts and sabotage operations. During this time, Poklad gained a dark reputation as a torturer, both within and outside the SBU.

Those who are familiar with him personally claim that Poklad enjoyed personally interrogating particularly intriguing suspects and would grip their throats with his hands during questioning. According to sources in the SBU, one of Poklad’s methods of torture was known as the “elephant,” where the victim is subjected to torture while wearing a gas mask, and a gas mask hose is filled with pepper spray from a canister or a toxic aerosol like dichlorvos.

Additionally, Poklad was known to fabricate criminal cases under orders, the most famous of which was the case against Nadiya Savchenko.