Kryvonos Serhii Hryhorovych

Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (2019–2020)

Born in 1970 in Kremenchuk. Commander of a special forces unit, head of the Special Operations Department of the General Staff (2014), developer of the Special Operations Forces strategy in cooperation with NATO. Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council from March 2019 to December 2020 — dismissed by Zelensky after a public dispute: the president stated that he did not even want to imagine the scenario of a Russian strike through Crimea, to which Kryvonos openly objected.

State Bureau of Investigation investigates the “illegal defense of Zhulyany,” Kryvonos claims it was ordered by Zelensky

On February 25, 2022, Kryvonos, under the oral order of Zaluzhnyi, took command of the defense of Zhulyany Airport; on March 12, Zaluzhnyi confirmed his authority with a written order. But on March 29, the order to enlist him was canceled, and the State Bureau of Investigation opened proceedings under Part 5, Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (exceeding authority by a military official)—investigators checked the validity of orders regarding the seizure of airport vehicles. Kryvonos publicly stated that "Commander-in-Chief Zelensky issued an illegal order to cancel my enlistment because he considers me a political opponent." The General Staff responded that these statements "do not correspond to reality and have signs of discrediting the highest military-political leadership."