• Military
• WMD

• Intelligence Menu               

• Systems
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Imagery
• Links

• Homeland Security
• Space

Vasyl Maliuk: SSU foils plans of russian intelligence to eliminate brother of President's Office Head

Security Service of Ukraine

16:45, 23 June 2025

The Security Service of Ukraine has foiled plans by russian special services to eliminate Denys Yermak, brother of the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. This was announced by the SSU Head, Lieutenant General Vasyl Maliuk, at a meeting with journalists.

'The russians wanted to carry out the terrorist attack before 3 p.m. on May 15. There was a meeting in Istanbul on that day, so the enemy wanted to carry out its plan before it began. This could have affected the negotiation process, as Andriy Yermak was part of Ukraine's delegation. We did not let russians carry out their plan,' Vasyl Maliuk said.

He added that Denys Yermak serves as a sniper in the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, in the Foreign Legion, and also destroys the enemy with drones. He spends most of the time on the front line. But the russian intelligence planned to kill him with an explosive device in the capital when he returned from combat duty.

'The perpetrator is from Kharkiv, impudent, young, a skilled engineer, i.e., someone who can professionally manufacture an explosive device. He arrived in Kyiv and rented an apartment. While he was buying all the necessary components for the IED, we managed to install video and audio surveillance in the flat. So, we were in complete control of the situation.

We also managed to penetrate his phone and recorded many conversations in which his handlers gave detailed instructions on how to carry out the entire process. The individual spent four nights working on the explosives. He slept during the day and started working on the device at night, making the detonator himself. The total weight he assembled was 2.5 kg, plus the additional, hitting elements,' Vasyl Maliuk explained.

The russians planned to activate the IED at Denys Yermak's home.

'The russians were in a great hurry; they needed to do this at all costs. The executor was told: come, ring the doorbell, they are waiting for you, just hand over the package. This is a classic 'blind' operation. The perpetrator bought two phones, one of which was connected to the explosives. The russians had audio surveillance - if they heard that the agent had approached the target and the door had been opened, they would have immediately detonated the bomb. However, thanks to the professionalism of the SSU, this was prevented,' Vasyl Maliuk emphasized.