Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised further personnel changes in Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, following revelations he described as unacceptable. In his 7 November address, the president said dismissals had already taken place and more decisions would follow.
The announcement puts the conduct of the service’s own personnel under renewed scrutiny while Ukraine continues to fight Russia’s invasion. Zelenskyy called for an investigation capable of establishing the truth and holding those responsible for crimes or violence accountable.
A proposal on asset declarations
The president also approved a draft bill to restore asset declarations for all SBU employees and urged parliament to consider it urgently. His announcement concerns proposed legislation: it does not establish that the requirement has already been restored by law.
Asset declarations and personnel changes address different parts of the accountability question. Declarations concern financial transparency; dismissals concern who remains in office. Neither, on its own, determines criminal responsibility in an individual case.
What happens next
The immediate tests are therefore concrete: which further personnel decisions are announced, how the legislative proposal progresses, and what investigators establish. Political condemnation should not be presented as a substitute for those results.
The president’s statement sets out a response and a promise of further action. It does not supply a final judicial finding. Allegations, dismissals and any eventual convictions must remain distinct as the case develops, particularly when public pressure for swift accountability is high.
