Zelensky announces NSDC overhaul, lists five tasks

Volodymyr Zelensky and the NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko. Photo source – president.gov.ua

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the National Security and Defense Council overhaul: greater prediction capabilities, fulfilling the current tasks, doctrinal work, cyber and information security, as well as work related to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff.

Zelensky said this while introducing the newly appointed NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko, reports the President's website.

Zelensky set a number of tasks for the new Secretary and the NSDC Secretariat, the first of which is greater ability to predict.

"The NSDC has every opportunity to combine the analytical potential of Ukrainian intelligence and other bodies operating in the field of national security. We need to increase Ukraine's ability to predict and influence the processes on which the national security of our state depends," Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Also, as the President noted, the NSDC should continue to fulfill all current tasks, especially in the area of Ukraine's sanctions policy. The third task is doctrinal work.

"We have started developing the Ukrainian Doctrine, which will become a new basis for Ukraine's policy and strategic decisions. The clarity of national guidelines and systematic implementation of them is what is needed both now and after the war. I hope that the NSDC in coordination with the authorities and other public structures will realize this goal," the President emphasized.

The President named cyber and information security as the fourth task, including strengthening protection against enemy disruptive operations and enhancing coordination of all state institutions in this area, as well as developing the country's cyber strike capabilities.

"And the fifth is the work of the Staff, the drafting of decisions, and the monitoring of their implementation. All this, of course, must be continued. The obvious priority is the defense of our state and the protection of our society. So, the work is clear, we are waiting for proposals," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Newly appointed NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko assured that he would do everything to enhance Ukraine's security.

"I promise that we will do everything to be useful to you. The National Security and Defense Council is an instrument that is becoming extremely important in the current conditions of our fight for existence against the Russian aggressor," he emphasized.

On March 26, 2024, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, dismissed Oleksiy Danilov as the NSDC Secretary, appointing Oleksandr Lytvynenko instead, dismissing him from the position of the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.

Oleksandr Lytvynenko had been in charge of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine since July 23, 2021. In the period from April 5, 2014 to August 13, 2019, he was the NSDC deputy secretary.