Colonel General Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

Ihor Petrovych Smeshko (, born 17 August 1955) served as the head of the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( ; abbreviated as SBU [] or SSU) is the main Internal security, internal security agency of the Government of Ukraine, Ukrainian government. Its main duties include counter-intelligence activity and combati ...

(SBU) from 2003 to 2005, where he supported the opposition during the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...

.C. J. Chivers, ''BACK CHANNELS: A Crackdown Averted; How Top Spies in Ukraine Changed the Nation's Path''

New York Times, January 17, 2005 In 2010, he entered politics with the Strength and Honor (political party), Strength and Honor party, which he formed with several former security and intelligence officials.John Marone, ''Ihor Smeshko, ex-spy chief, enters politics''

Kyiv Post, April 28, 2010 He was chairman of the Intelligence Committee under the President of Ukraine (from October 7, 2014, to March 12, 2015). Smeshko was registered as a candidate in the

2019 Ukrainian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 March 2019. As none of the 39 candidates on the ballot received an absolute majority of the initial vote, a runoff was held on 21 April between the top two vote-getters: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a t ...

.Zelensky told when he presented his key five team

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...

(19 March 2019) In the election he took 6th place with 6.04% of the vote.

Biography

Born in 1955 in

Khrystynivka Khrystynivka (, ) is a city in Uman Raion, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Khrystynivka urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: Administrative status Until 18 July, 2020, Khrystynivka served as an a ...

Cherkasy Region Cherkasy Oblast (, ), also referred to as Cherkashchyna (, ) is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central Ukraine located along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The Capital city, administrative center of the oblast is the cit ...

, Smeshko has made a career as a professional soldier-scholar. He holds a doctorate in Military Cybernetics and served as professor of information systems and systems analysis, publishing over 100 papers. In 1992, he became secretary of the Science Advisory Council of the

Ukrainian Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine () is the ministry of the Ukrainian government that oversees national defence and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the ministry is the Minister of Defence. The President of Ukraine is the Supreme Com ...

. That same year he was reassigned as Defense Attache to the Ukrainian Embassy in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

where he spent 4 years.Ex-head of the SBU decided to go to the presidency

(13 January 2019) While there he negotiated a memorandum of military cooperation with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

during that time. In 1995, Smeshko was awarded a general's star and recalled to Ukraine to lead the president's committee on intelligence, which he did for 3 years. In 1997, Smeshko was appointed

Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (), also known in English as the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), is the military intelligence service of the Ukrainian government. It is an agency of the Minist ...

where he uncovered "massive fraud" in weapons end-user certificate production indicative of arms trafficking at the SBU, then headed by

Leonid Derkach Leonid Vasyliovych Derkach (; 19 July 1939 – 14 January 2022) was a Soviet and Ukrainian politician, intelligence officer, and general who was Head of the Security Service of Ukraine from 22 April 1998 to 10 February 2001. Called the "Ukrai ...

. Smeshko implemented stricter controls, particularly for the Kolchuga air defense system.George Woloshyn, ''Ihor Smeshko: The man in the iron mask''

Kyiv Post, Jan. 15, 2010 In 2000, facing political attacks organized by the SBU, Smeshko resigned from his post as head of the Military Intelligence Directorate and assumed the post of Defense Attache to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, a demotion. In this position, he negotiated a memorandum of military cooperation with Switzerland. In 2002, Smeshko completed a master's degree in Military Administration and a Law Degree from Shevchenko University in Kyiv. In late 2002,

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

asked Smeshko to return to Ukraine to assist him in handling accusations made by the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

that Ukraine had sold the Kolchuga system to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Later that year, Derkach was fired and Smeshko was appointed head of the SBU. He immediately set into action with a plan to preserve documents, replace top management and reorganize the agency with new pay scales and a mission focused away from KGB style secret political police. Smeshko was instrumental in the prevention of military action against the civil protests in late 2004. He demanded General Popkov stop his efforts to crack down on the protesters, as the General was mustering 10,000 troops to do so. The SBU and the military intelligence directorate worked to block the fraudulent ascension of

Viktor Yanukovich Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

, supporting

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...

. In 2005, Yushchenko fired Smeshko from the SBU. In 2014 President

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

appointed Smeshko as his adviser. Subsequently, he led the Intelligence Committee under the President. Smeshko was a candidate in the

. In the election he took 6th place with 6.04% of the vote. Smeshko was number one on the party list of the political party Strength and Honor (political party), Strength and Honor in the July

2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, the elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parli ...

. But in the election the party won 3.82%, not enough to clear the 5% election threshold and thus no parliamentary seats. The party also failed to win a constituency seat.CEC counts 100 percent of vote in Ukraine's parliamentary elections

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine (), or Ukrinform (), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of Ukraine. It was founded in 1918 during the Ukrainian War of IndependenceResults of the extraordinary elections of the People's Deputies of Ukraine 2019

(21 July 2019) Smeshko was a candidate for

Mayor of Kyiv The Head of Kyiv City (), unofficially and more commonly the Mayor of Kyiv (), is a city official elected by popular vote who serves as a head of the Kyiv city state administration (the capital of Ukraine) and a chairperson the Kyiv City Counc ...

for the party Strength and Honor in the 2020 Kyiv local election. He finished 7th place with 22.418 votes. Besides his native Ukrainian, Smeshko speaks fluent English, German and French.

Controversies

Yushchenko poisoning

A parliamentary commission investigating in October 2004 confirmed that Smeshko dined with

on the night of September 5, 2004, where he may have been poisoned. Yushchenko claims to have fallen ill about 3 hours after the dinner and sought medical treatment the following day.Susanna Loof, ''Doctors say Yushchenko was poisoned'

, Associated Press, StAugustine.com, December 12, 2004Emma Ross, ''Yushchenko's dioxin poison level 6,000 times higher than normal''

, Associated Press, StAugustine.com, December 16, 2004 Smeshko denies the allegations, citing the existence of several other theories regarding the poisoning, and claims that the allegations were made by

Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

supporters from within the security services, including former SBU chief

Derkach Derkach (Cyrillic: Деркач) is a Ukrainian surname meaning a ratchet, noisemaker. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrii Derkach (born 1967), Ukrainian politician and businessman * Andriy Derkach (footballer) (born 1985), Ukrainian ...

Awards and honorary titles

* Medal "For Military Service of Ukraine" (November 23, 1998) * State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology (2004) * Honorary Master of the Joint Intelligence Institute at the National Defense Academy of Ukraine

References

External links