A bill has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada that would provide state protection to members of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Staff and the National Security and Defence Council if they are exercising their powers during martial law. The document was made available for review on 2 September, according to its entry on the parliament’s website.
The explanatory note says the aim of the bill is to ensure the uninterrupted and stable functioning of key state institutions that make decisions in wartime by improving the legal regulation of state protection and ensuring the security of the President, top officials, heads of bodies in the security and defence sector, MPs and their families who have exercised or are exercising their powers under wartime/martial law conditions. In particular, it proposes introducing lifelong state protection for members of the President’s family and extending security requirements during a state of war or martial law to the Commander-in-Chief, the Chief of the General Staff, and the heads of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The protection period would be for the duration of the term of office and for one year after it ends. At the same time, state protection for different officials after they leave office should be differentiated. And for officials who are not on the list but are members of the National Security and Defence Council or the Staff, they want to introduce the option of providing protection for up to ten years, except in cases where a person is imprisoned for a criminal offence.
The document also proposes increasing the maximum staffing level of the State Protection Department from 2,993 to 5,500 people.
One of the bill’s initiators, MP and member of the defence committee Roman Kostenko, told Ukrainska Pravda that the security of officials who made key decisions during the war directly affects the resilience of the state. He called it a gap that the Commander-in-Chief is not covered by decisions on granting state protection.
“This bill is not about specific names, but about preserving key state institutions and ensuring continuity in their work. It does not matter whether a person holds office now or has already stepped down. Everyone who made decisions that helped destroy the enemy is in the crosshairs of Russian special services. And the state must take care of their security,” he said.