Zelenskyy has decided to appoint former defence minister Umierov as foreign intelligence chief, sources say

Mykhailo Tkach, Alona Mazurenko - 3 August, 11:58

Rustem Umierov. Photo: Umierov on Facebook

Sources are telling Ukrainska Pravda that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is planning to appoint Rustem Umierov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda sources in political sources with knowledge of the matter

Details: Following the recent Cabinet reshuffle, Zelenskyy has offered Ihor Klymenko, who served as minister of internal affairs for several years, the post of secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council.

Before that, Klymenko had been considered for the post of defence minister.

Previously: On 4 February, Zelenskyy appointed Oleh Luhovskyi, first deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, as the agency's acting head.

On 2 January, Zelenskyy dismissed Oleh Ivashchenko as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service and appointed him head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

Background:

In autumn 2025, detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) suspected Tymur Mindich, a businessman and co-owner of Kvartal 95, of establishing a criminal organisation, laundering funds obtained through criminal means, and illegally influencing former defence minister Rustem Umierov. Kvartal 95 is the Ukrainian production company Volodymyr Zelenskyy founded before he became president.
Audio recordings made by NABU as part of the Midas corruption investigation, known as the "Mindich tapes", also suggested that Mindich had personally lobbied Umierov on behalf of Milicon UA, which had secured a contract to supply 75,000 body armour vests to Ukraine's Armed Forces. However, concerns later emerged over the quality of the body armour, and the contract was terminated following pressure from the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defence.
Umierov stated that no one had influenced him during his time as defence minister. He acknowledged that he met with Mindich regarding the body armour contract, but the contract had been terminated because the goods did not meet the required standards.

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