Ukraine's Security Service former general who fled to Russia dies fighting against Ukraine – Russian media outlet

Major General Volodymyr Liapkin, former department head of Ukraine's Security Service (SSU), who fled to Russia after the Revolution of Dignity and served in the Bars-33 unit, was killed in action in Ukraine on 17 March.

Source: Mediazona, independent Russian media outlet

Details: The first report of Liapkin's death was published by former Ukrainian MP Oleh Tsarov. Then, Mediazona independently confirmed Liapkin's death.

It is noted that a former emergency services officer from the Moscow Oblast, Colonel Eduard Malov, was killed alongside him. Both servicemen were killed on 17 March 2026.

Liapkin served as head of the SSU's operational documentation department during the time of Viktor Yanukovych. According to Tsarov, his area of responsibility included "the invisible side of the SSU's work – wiretapping, external surveillance and information gathering". Liapkin received the rank of major general in 2013. That same year, he personally participated in the dispersal of protests on the Maidan, Tsarov claims.

In February 2014, immediately after the protesters' victory on the Maidan, Liapkin was dismissed from the SSU along with other senior officers. He fled to Russia and settled in occupied Crimea.

Following the start of the war and the occupation of Kherson, Liapkin was appointed deputy head of the so-called "State Security Service of Kherson Oblast". The founder of the "State Security Service" was Liapkin's former superior at the SSU – Oleksandr Yakymenko, head of the Ukrainian security service from January 2013 to February 2014, who also fled to Russia.

In 2025, the SSU reported suspicion of collaborative activities against Volodymyr Liapkin. According to the investigation, in his roles as deputy head and acting head of the "State Security Service", he was engaged in "filtration measures" and repressions against the civilian population. The SSU believes that following the formal liquidation of the "State Security Service", its successor became the FSB directorate for occupied Kherson Oblast.

Tsarov's post states that Liapkin served in the Bars-33 unit and went by the alias "Batyi".

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