The President, Volodymyr Zelensky, dismissed Ruslan Demchenko, the First Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council.
This is stated in Presidential Decree No. 528/2022.
"Release Demchenko Ruslan Mykhailovych, from the post of First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine," the document states.
According to the "Scheme" investigation, Ruslan Demchenko, the First Deputy Secretary of the NSDC, lobbied for the "Kharkiv Agreements" in 2010, according to which Ukraine extended the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. Journalists found in the archives of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) the transcript of the closed meeting of the parliamentary security committee for April 26, 2010. It was then that the members of the meeting decided whether to recommend to the deputies to ratify the "Kharkiv Agreements".
Ruslan Demchenko, who at that time held the post of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, was also a participant in the meeting. According to the released transcript, Demchenko convinced the deputies to support consideration of the draft law on ratification of the agreement in the session hall.
In addition, journalist Yury Butusov named Demchenko as one of those who allegedly foiled a special operation to detain Wagner PMC fighters who were flying through Belarus.
Ruslan Demchenko worked in the diplomatic service since the beginning of Ukraineʼs independence. In 1992-1996, he worked at the US Embassy, then for 3 years was an employee of the Protocol Service of the President of Ukraine. In 2000-2003, he worked as a consul in Istanbul, and in 2003-2005, he was the ambassador of Ukraine to Serbia and Montenegro.
During Yanukovychʼs timeline, Ruslan was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and dealt with issues of relations with Russia.