The head of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense explained what is wrong with Umerov's new appointment
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Editor-in-Chief
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Yuriy Gudymenko, head of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, explained what is wrong with the appointment of Rustem Umerov as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
This is mentioned in Gudymenko’s interview with “Shelter.”
Let’s talk specifically about Rustem Umerov. I wish him success at the helm of the SBR, because it’s an important agency from the perspective of Ukraine’s Defense Forces. But I have to note that very few of the people I speak with in the Ukrainian intelligence community have spoken positively about this appointment
Yuriy Gudymenko Head of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
On August 3, 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a speech at the annual meeting of heads of Ukraine’s diplomatic missions—which brought together more than 100 diplomats—noted that in his new position, Umerov will coordinate the conclusion of new drone agreements, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
The president noted that Ukraine currently has such agreements with nine countries and is negotiating with 15 more. These agreements provide not only for the export of Ukrainian drones but also for the integration of domestic drone defense technologies into the defense systems of partner countries.
“Umerov will coordinate this work, and not just in the Middle East,” Zelenskyy said.
For his part, Gudymenko emphasized in an interview with “Shelter” that the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service has a completely different task.
“It was made clear from the start that he would be handling negotiations with foreign partners and so on. That is not the job of the head of the SSU. It is clearly stated—it is explicitly stated—that the head of the SSU has a completely different mission,” the head of the State Administration of Affairs (GAR) stated.
He noted that the SBR is a political intelligence agency.
It is practically impossible for the person holding this position to be in the public eye or well-known. And this directly contradicts the very essence of the processes taking place there. Well, the work of the SVR is not supposed to be public. We have military intelligence—that’s the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR)—we have military intelligence within the armed forces, and we have the SVR. And specifically political, economic, and perhaps financial intelligence—work there involving, perhaps, some opposition in countries hostile to us—none of this can have even the slightest hint of publicity. Yet the exact opposite was stated
Yuriy Gudymenko Head of the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
“So let me be very diplomatic. I view this appointment with great caution, because everyone knows that Rustem Enverovich communicates excellently with our foreign partners. A significant number of them like him, and he has political connections, but this is not the position where one can pursue that line of work,” he added.
It should be recalled that Umerov himself, after being appointed head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, identified the implementation of the president’s strategic initiatives— — the Drone Deal, the Freya anti-ballistic program, “and other international projects aimed at strengthening the defense and security capabilities of Ukraine and our partners.”
Author
Svitlana Sheremetieva Editor-in-Chief
All materialsShe has been working in journalism since 2013. Before founding “Shelter,” she served as editor-in-chief of the online media outlet “Apostrophe” and as deputy general director of the RBC-Ukraine news agency.