The former head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Ivan Bakanov, has employed his son Artur Lazarenko in the SBU after the full-scale Russian invasion.
Lazarenko is still working in the SBU, according to an investigation by Ukrainska Pravda.
According to the publication, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Bakanov employed his son in the SBU. He, like his father, became a lieutenant and serves in the 6th directorate of the SBU’s counterintelligence department. Artur Ivanovich bears his mother’s surname – Lazarenko.
According to the functional, in this position he should supervise the work of military plants and defense enterprises during a full-scale invasion.
Ivan Bakanov in a telephone conversation with journalists at first refused to disclose information about “an active employee of the SBU during the war”.
Subsequently, he sent the UP a clarification. According to him, Arthur Lazarenko since childhood builds a military career, in particular, his first education was the Kiev military lyceum named after Ivan Bogun.
“I, as the father of my son Artur Ivanovich Lazarenko, am proud of him. Since March 2022, he joined the ranks of the AFU and as of today performs complex service tasks to counter armed aggression against Ukraine, including in the combat zone,” – said Bakanov.
The SBU confirmed in a comment to the UP that Lazarenko has been serving in the institution since March 2022, when Ivan Bakanov headed the service.