SBU did not check Hladkyi before his appointment as Chief of Staff of the Unmanned Systems Forces

The Security Service of Ukraine did not conduct an inspection of Roman Hladkyi, the head of the headquarters of the Unmanned Systems Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, before his appointment. The press service of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the journalist of UNN .

Details

According to the current legislation, the Chief of Staff of the Unmanned Systems Command is appointed by order of the Minister of Defense upon the proposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This procedure does not require any additional checks or approvals from the Security Service and is an internal personnel decision of the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Thus, the Security Service did not receive any requests and did not conduct a vetting of Roman Hladkyi before his appointment as Chief of Staff of the Unmanned Systems Command

However, in 2020, the Security Service of Ukraine checked Roman Hladkyi in connection with his admission to state secrets.

At that time, the circumstances provided for by clauses 2 and 4 of the first part and the second part of Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On State Secrets", which would prevent access to state secrets, were absent.

Addendum

Since July 2016, Roman Hladkyi has served as Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Navy. In 2018, he was suspended from his post during an internal investigation. At the time, the media reported that this could have been related to both financial and economic violations and information about his wife's Russian citizenship.

In addition, it was noted that for the first two years after the outbreak of the war, Gladkyi's wife and children allegedly continued to live in the temporarily occupied Crimea, and the Ukrainian officer's daughter was engaged in swimming and successfully competed for the Central Sports Club of the Russian Army.

However, in 2018, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine denied that these facts could have been the basis for an internal investigation against Hladkyi. Instead, the main reason for his dismissal was "improper performance of official duties.

Recently, the command of the Unmanned Systems Forces responded to the scandalthat arose over the appointment of Roman Hladkyi as Chief of Staff of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They emphasized that Hladkyi is an officer with many years of experience in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and before his appointment, he passed all the necessary checks by the Security Service of Ukraine in 2018-2019 and has a security clearance to work with information with the highest level of secrecy.

Recall

Today, on February 3, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a draft law that provides for the inclusion of the Unmanned Systems Forces in certain branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.