ISTANBUL 

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) chief Vasyl Maliuk said Monday that he is stepping down, following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement earlier this month of a “substantial” reshuffle.

In a SBU statement released on Telegram, Maliuk said he will remain within the service’s system to implement “world-class asymmetric special operations, which will continue to cause maximum damage” to Russia.

“I am sure that a strong and modern special service is the key to the security of our state. The changes that the President of Ukraine is implementing in the defense sector are aimed at this, and I thank him,” he added.

Zelenskyy, in a separate statement on US social media company X, wrote that he met Maliuk, thanking him for his “combat service” and proposing that he focus on this line of work in particular.

He urged for more “asymmetric operations” against Russia, as well as “more solid results in eliminating the enemy,” regarding which he said this is where Mailuk is “at his strongest, and this is exactly what he will continue to do within the Security Service of Ukraine.”

“I tasked Vasyl Maliuk with making our asymmetric operations the strongest in the world. The necessary resources and political support are in place,” he went on to say, adding they also discussed potential candidates to replace him as SBU chief.

Zelenskyy later signed a decree appointing Yevhenii Khmara, the head of the SBU's Alpha special operations unit, as the security service's acting chief. The decree was published by Ukraine's Presidential Office.

Zelenskyy announced on Friday that Ukraine would undergo “substantial” internal changes to boost resilience.

Maliuk assumed the position of SBU chief back in 2023. The security agency has carried out multiple high-profile "operations" since then, including the attacks on Russia's military airfields and strategic bombers in June last year.