Who are Ukraine's new police and security chiefs, and what accusations do they face?

The acting heads of Ukraine's National Police and Security Service (SBU), who were appointed late on July 17, have been embroiled in controversy.

President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Oleksandr Poklad, former senior deputy of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), as acting head in a decree issued July 17, as the Cabinet of Ministers tapped Maksym Tsutskiridze as temporary head of Ukraine's National Police.

Poklad was appointed after President Zelensky reassigned his predecessor to the Defense Ministry, while Tsutskiridze succeeded an official who was appointed interior minister as part of the recent government reshuffle.

The Anti-Corruption Action Center and other activists have accused Poklad of leading the attack on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) in 2025 and fabricating political cases. Tsutskiridze, in turn, is a protégé of one of the most controversial presidential staffers.

"Appointing figures like these to lead the country's main Security Service sends a clear signal that the authorities are moving toward a police state, stepping up pressure, and preparing new attacks on anti-corruption institutions, independent media, and civil society," the Anti-Corruption Action Center said in a reference to Poklad on July 14.

The President's Office did not respond to requests for comment. The Kyiv Independent has requested comments from the SBU and the National Police and will publish their responses once they are received.

A friend of Zelensky's deputy chief of staff

Tsutskiridze has worked as a police officer for 20 years.

Since 2019, he has been a deputy head of the National Police and head of the police's main investigative department.

A major controversy surrounds Tsutskiridze's relationship with President Volodymyr Zelensky's Deputy Chief of Staff Oleh Tatarov, who is responsible for law enforcement.

Tsutskiridze and Tatarov were both born in Novoukrainka, Kyrovohrad Oblast, and have been acquainted for a long time.

During the EuroMaidan Revolution, which ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, Tsutskiridze headed a unit of the police's main investigative department. He was a subordinate of Tatarov, who was a deputy head of the department at the time.

During the revolution, Tatarov publicly lashed out at EuroMaidan protesters while defending the police who beat them. He was later investigated for persecuting EuroMaidan protesters, although no official charges were brought.

In 2014, Tatarov and Tsutskiridze co-authored a textbook on how to investigate "mass riots" based on their experience during the EuroMaidan Revolution.

Tsutskiridze also attended Tatarov's birthday party in 2021, according to footage published by the Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda.

In 2020, lawyers working for former lawmaker Maksym Mykytas accused Tsutskiridze and his subordinates of fabricating evidence in a criminal case to pressure Mykytas into withdrawing testimony he had given against Tatarov in a separate investigation.

Police rejected the allegations, insisting the evidence was lawful and warning the lawyers against disclosing confidential investigative information.

After he was charged and arrested, Mykytas effectively withdrew his accusations against Tatarov.

Prosecutors later acknowledged that some evidence in the kidnapping case had been falsified, according to Bihus.info. The case subsequently collapsed.

Mykytas' testimony against Tatarov concerned an alleged bribery scheme. In 2020, Tatarov, who had previously worked as a lawyer for the construction company Ukrbud, was charged with bribing a forensic expert on Mykytas' behalf to obtain a favorable valuation that benefited the company. Tatarov has denied the allegations.

The Prosecutor General's Office later transferred the case from the independent National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which critics viewed as more politically compliant. The case was effectively dismantled and formally closed in 2022.

Tatarov has since become a symbol of Zelensky's perceived tolerance of corruption within his inner circle. Zelensky has consistently refused to dismiss or suspend him.

Meanwhile,  according to his asset declarations, Tsutskiridze lives in an apartment investigated as part of the Tatarov-Mykytas case.

Tsutskiridze's mother-in-law, Lyudmila Zaluzhna, bought the apartment, as well as a storage unit and two parking lots, from 2018 to 2020 for a total of Hr 5 million ($185,000) — far below their market value at the time, according to Bihus.info.

It is not clear where Zaluzhna could obtain the money since she has never been a businesswoman, Bihus.info reported.

Tsutskiridze told Bihus.info that his mother-in-law had previously invested in an apartment in another Ukrbud project in central Kyiv, which she then allegedly sold at a profit.

She used the proceeds to invest in her property at the Aristocrat residential complex where Tsutskiridze lives, according to the police official. He did not explain where the money for the initial purchase came from.

The officer who led the attack on NABU

Poklad's past is no less controversial.

From 2007 until 2014, Poklad worked as an aide to two lawmakers from ex-President Yanukovych's pro-Russian Party of Regions – Ivan Myrnyi and Ravil Safiullin.

Later, Poklad headed the fifth unit of the SBU's counter-intelligence department. In 2020, he organized the arrest of Valeriy Shaitanov, a top SBU official who was later convicted of high treason in favor of Russia and plotting a terrorist attack.

From 2021 to 2023, Poklad led the SBU's counter-intelligence department.

Poklad was also reportedly involved in the controversy over the murder of Denys Kireev, a member of Ukraine's negotiating delegation, at the beginning of Russia's invasion in 2022.

Kireev was shot dead by SBU officers. The SBU claimed it had "strong evidence" he was leaking information to Russia.

In 2023, Kyrylo Budanov, then head of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) and now Zelensky's chief of staff, said that Kireev "was not a traitor."

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the President's Office, told the news outlet Delfi that Kireev's murder occurred due to poor coordination between Ukrainian intelligence agencies. Podolyak also added that Kireev was not a Russian agent.

On the night before negotiations in Belarus, Kireev received a phone call from Poklad's office, according to Budanov, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2023. Budanov said that Poklad wanted to meet Kireev.

Poklad and the SBU declined to comment for the Wall Street Journal article, citing a law on state secrets.

Since 2023, Poklad has been a deputy head of the SBU.

The Anti-Corruption Action Center and other activists have accused Poklad of leading the authorities' attack on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) in 2025.

According to Kyiv Independent sources in Ukraine's law enforcement, Poklad had visited Dubai ahead of the return of Fedir Khrystenko, a key figure in the NABU controversy, to Ukraine in 2025.

Khrystenko is a Ukrainian lawmaker charged with treason for allegedly cooperating with Russian intelligence. He had been living in Dubai but was brought back to Ukraine in 2025.

The SBU claimed that Khrystenko had been in contact with NABU detectives and was influencing the bureau.

"It was Poklad who orchestrated pressure on Khrystenko to fabricate testimony against NABU detectives, as well as against the leadership of the NABU and SAPO (Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office)," the Anti-Corruption Action Center said on July 14.