On the second attempt, the Verkhovna Rada’s defense committee backed Malyuk’s dismissal from the post of head of the SBU

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada Defense Committee backed the dismissal of Vasyl Maliuk from the post of head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on its second attempt.

This was reported by Holos party MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak on his Telegram channel.

According to him, 12 committee members voted in favor and 5 voted against. The day before, the vote was 7 against and 6 in favor.

“Briefly: the opposition demanded a report from Maliuk, the authorities insisted everything is OK,” Zhelezniak wrote.

A vote on Maliuk is expected in the Rada today. Zhelezniak predicts the votes will be there.

“Today there will be a vote in the Rada (I think they’ve already gathered 226+ votes),” the MP said.

At the same time, the parliament will not yet approve a new permanent head of the SBU, according to Servant of the People faction leader Davyd Arakhamia:

“Whether he has chances or not depends on how he shows himself. I personally support him. If we fail now, Maliuk will be removed, and Khmara will go back to commanding ‘Alpha.’ We need to give Khmara maximum support, and then we’ll appoint him to the SBU.”

According to media reports, besides Maliuk’s resignation, today’s Rada session is also expected to consider the resignations of Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal and Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.