Ihor Klymenko was appointed head of the Council of Experts on Energy Security

Ihor Klymenko, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, has been appointed the new chair of the Expert Council on Energy Security. He succeeded former National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Litvinenko in this position.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the relevant changes. The head of state signed the decree on October 5, 2026.

The document amends the decree dated May 29, 2020, which established the Council of Experts on Energy Security.

Under the new amendments, Ihor Klymenko now heads the council by virtue of his position as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

The position of chair of the Council of Experts on Energy Security is traditionally held by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

At the same time, after being dismissed from the post of Secretary of the NSDC, Oleksandr Litvinenko continued to head the Council of Experts, even though Rustem Umerov succeeded him as Secretary of the NSDC.

Lytvynenko served as Secretary of the NSDC from March 2024 to July 2025. After his dismissal, he retained the position of Chair of the Council of Experts.

Now this decision has been reversed, and leadership of the Council of Experts on Energy Security has once again been transferred to the current NSDC Secretary.

Ihor Klymenko became Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council on August 3, 2026. On that day, Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Rustem Umerov from that position and appointed him head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

Prior to his appointment as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Klymenko had headed the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for over three years.

He assumed the position of Minister of Internal Affairs in February 2023 following the death of Minister Denys Monastyrsky.

Prior to that, Ihor Klymenko had served as head of the National Police of Ukraine.

Thus, following Klymenko’s appointment as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, he was also appointed Chairman of the Council of Experts on Energy Security, restoring the position to its traditional model, under which the council is headed by the incumbent Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

Also, on September 25, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Viktor Kitsyuk as a judge of the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv. Kitsyuk had previously served in this court, but his five-year term ended in May 2014. Following that, his appointment was reviewed by the High Council of Justice and the courts for several years. Kytsyuk’s background includes a case dating back to the Revolution of Dignity and criminal proceedings related to decisions concerning participants in the Automaidan movement. In 2020, he was acquitted, and the appeal proceedings in this case were subsequently closed.

Colonel Konstantin Gumenyuk of the Medical Service has been appointed to lead the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The new commander has already been tasked with changing the approach to providing medical care to Ukrainian servicemembers.