Zelenskyy congratulates Ukraine's Security Service on its 33rd anniversary and confers brigadier general rank on two colonels

On the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has conferred the rank of brigadier general on the heads of the SSU’s offices in Mykolaiv and Sumy oblasts and presented awards to members of the service.

Source: decrees of 25 March; Office of the President; SSU press service

Quote from the decrees: "The military rank of brigadier general shall be conferred on Colonel Mykola Lysenko, Head of the Mykolaiv Oblast Office of the Security Service of Ukraine.

The military rank of brigadier general shall be conferred on Colonel Oleh Krasnoshapka, Head of the Sumy Oblast Office of the Security Service of Ukraine."

Details: On 25 March 2025, the Security Service of independent Ukraine marked its 33rd anniversary.

Zelenskyy met with SSU personnel on the occasion, awarded them state honours and conferred senior officer ranks.

Zelenskyy said in his address that over the three years of this war, the SSU "has truly become a combat-ready special service – highly efficient and strong". He noted that SSU fighters are engaged in all defence sectors, from Kursk and Kharkiv oblasts to the hottest front lines in Donetsk Oblast and Ukraine’s south.

Zelenskyy highlighted the achievements of the SSU and other Ukrainian security and defence forces in the battle for the Black Sea. He also emphasised the SSU's combat successes against Russia’s oil refining industry and praised the service’s efforts in maintaining internal security in Ukraine.

SSU Head Vasyl Maliuk stressed in his congratulatory speech that the service’s priority remains the elimination of as many enemies as possible and the liberation of Ukrainian land.

Quote from Maliuk: "Ukrainians have done this many times before: we’ve just swapped  Cossack sabres for modern weapons and FPV drones. We have a strong genetic memory, fuelled by our thirst for freedom and hatred for Russian executioners. And we have the desire to avenge our fallen comrades while also ensuring that our descendants are permanently immune to Muscovites."

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