"Likhvidator Zakharchenka" or "specialist in coups": Who is the new head of SBU counterintelligence Oleksandr Poklad

"Likhvidator Zakharchenka" or "specialist in coups": Who is the new head of SBU counterintelligence Oleksandr Poklad

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Oleksandr Poklad as head of the Counterintelligence Department of the Security Service of Ukraine. He has a very polished official biography and is the subject of ambiguous rumors.

In the wake of the scandalous press briefing in which President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ashamed of Ukrainian counterintelligence during the special operation to detain the "Wagner" mercenaries, the head of the SBU Counterintelligence Department, Oleksandr Rusnak, was dismissed.

Although Rusnak was personally appointed by Zelensky in September 2019, and in 2020 he was even granted a general’s rank. The reasons for Rusnak’s dismissal are not stated in the presidential decree, but it can be assumed these events are connected. At least, it gives the impression that the president is using personnel changes to try to put the counterintelligence service in order. Or at least to make it look that way.

The very next day Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Oleksandr Poklad head of the SBU Counterintelligence Department. Before that, Poklad had been chief of the Fifth Directorate of the Counterintelligence Department. The Fifth Directorate of the Counterintelligence Department (CD) is an SBU unit that handles special tasks both on territory under Ukrainian government control and beyond. According to journalist Yuriy Butusov, it was the Fifth Directorate that carried out the special operation to eliminate the DNR militant Arsen Pavlov (Motorola), although Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed this information, nor the fact that the operation took place.

The occupiers accused the directorate of the liquidation of the leader of the armed group Oleksandr Zakharchenko.

Given the unit’s specialization and secrecy, it is quite logical that there is very little information about its personnel publicly available. Even finding a photograph of Oleksandr Poklad on the Internet is problematic. Still, some information exists online.

Oleksandr Poklad – official biography and kompromat

From open sources it is known that Oleksandr Poklad is 44 years old. He graduated from Kharkiv Law University with a degree in law.

Media report that in 1999 Poklad founded the company "Oltex", which is engaged in leasing and operating real estate. Three years later he left the list of founders, and in 2011 his mother, Zoya Poklad, became one of the company’s owners. According to the YouControl analytics system, her share currently stands at 50%, and her contribution to the company’s charter capital is 6,6 million hryvnias. The other owner of Oltex is Lidiya Shapovalova. Radio Svoboda claims she is the mother of the People’s Deputy from the For the Future group Yuriy Shapovalov and the grandmother of another People’s Deputy from the Servant of the People faction, Oleksiy Movchan.

Official sources also show that in 2006 Poklad obtained a lawyer’s certificate, which was suspended in 2015 at his request.

Journalists from the Schemes program assert that Oleksandr Poklad worked as an unpaid assistant to the People’s Deputy from the Party of Regions (7 convocation, 2012–2014) and the Opposition Bloc (8 convocation, 2014–2019) Ivan Myrnyi, serving as head of security for oligarch Dmytro Firtash. Before that, Poklad also worked as an assistant to deputy Ravil Safiullin from the Party of Regions (6 convocation, 2007–2012).

When he entered counterintelligence is unknown. But at the time of Zakharchenko’s assassination (31 August 2018) Oleksandr Poklad was already deputy chief of the 5 Directorate of the SBU Counterintelligence Department under Roman Chervinsky. Russian media attribute participation in the liquidation of the DNR armed group leader to him.

Apostrophe writes that Oleksandr Poklad led special operations to detain Major General Valeriy Shaytanov in 2020 and SBU "K" Directorate officer Yuriy Rasyuk in 2021, both suspected of working for the intelligence services of the Russian Federation.

It is also known that by decree of President Petro Poroshenko in 2017 Poklad was awarded the Order "For Courage" III class, and in 2020 President Volodymyr Zelensky presented him the Order "For Courage" II class.

As for negative rumors and kompromat, on the internet one can find information dated to 2008 claiming that in 1996 Oleksandr Poklad was convicted of racketeering as part of an organized criminal group and sentenced to 6 years in prison with confiscation under Article 144 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in the version of 1960 ("Extortion of state, collective, or individual property committed under aggravating circumstances"). Allegedly the appellate court left the verdict unchanged and he served the sentence in Poltava, but after two and a half years he was released under amnesty. This information has not yet been either refuted or confirmed.

Media write that within the SBU Poklad has the nickname "the strangler" because he supposedly prefers to obtain necessary testimony by strangling suspects. He is also alleged to have possible involvement in organizing the murders of Pavlo Sheremet and lawyer Yuriy Hrabovskyi in 2016. "Previously Poklad was a police officer, then became a lawyer, later was implicated in a case about several contract killings in Kremenchuk, and then became a 'super-powerful counterintelligence officer'," former Ukrspirt director Mykhailo Labutin told journalists in 2018. But it can be assumed Labutin’s statements to journalists may not have been objective and that he holds a grudge against Poklad.

The same publication calls Poklad a "specialist in state coups." He is credited with organizing the "exposure" in 2018 of two coups, one of which allegedly was to be carried out by Aidar forces at Labutin’s behest, and the other allegedly prepared by Nadiya Savchenko and Volodymyr Ruban.

Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, citing its own sources among serving and retired SBU officers, claims that "Poklad has very little to do with classical counterintelligence. He is a high-class specialist in active measures. Harsh, cynical, dangerous, skilled." Earlier Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, citing sources in the State Bureau of Investigation, wrote that Yuriy Rasyuk, whose arrest was led by Poklad, reported torture by the SBU during procedural and investigative actions. The media also notes that Poklad’s Fifth Directorate team, which he headed, was repurposed from the external sector to the internal sector and involved in resolving business matters inside the country during the leadership of SBU head Ivan Bakanov.

"The new president was advised by the former special envoy of Petro Poroshenko to retain first deputy head of the SBU Baranetsky and the head of the budget committee Aristov. The current appointment of Oleksandr Poklad was recommended mainly by Andriy Yermak," the publication writes.

Probation period

Because of the above-mentioned rumors and the circumstances surrounding his appointment, the media are focused on Oleksandr Poklad. On one hand he is credited with successful special operations in ORDLO territory and exposing Russian agents; on the other, there are numerous publications from previous years (dating back to distant 2008) about Poklad’s ties to criminal elements in the turbulent 90 and about fabricating cases while serving in the SBU. Although it is possible these publications are the result of a targeted campaign to discredit the officer at someone’s request.

It is clear that Oleksandr Poklad took office under circumstances very unfavorable for the current authorities and at a very difficult time for them. One high-ranking SBU officer summarized to the media that, given Poklad’s experience and specialization, he was appointed either for a major one-time operation or President Zelensky simply did not understand what he had done.

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