Bakanov employed his son in SSU at beginning of full-scale invasion of Russian Federation - mass media
At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the then head of the SSU, Ivan Bakanov, employed his son in the Security Service.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in an investigation by the Ukrainska Pravda media outlet.
According to journalists, Bakanov's son Artur Lazarenko (mother's surname - Ed.), like his father, became a lieutenant and serves in the 6th Directorate of the SBU Counterintelligence Department.
According to his function, he is supposed to supervise the operation of military plants and defense enterprises during a full-scale invasion.
Lazarenko refused to answer questions about how he got to the SSU and what he did before, as he did not want to talk about his "personal life".
His father, Ivan Bakanov, initially refused to disclose information about "an active SSU officer during the war" in a telephone conversation.
He later sent the publication a clarification. According to him, Artur Lazarenko has been building a military career since childhood, and his first education was at the Ivan Bohun Military Lyceum in Kyiv.
"As the father of my son, Artur Ivanovych Lazarenko, I am proud of him. Since March 2022, he has joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and is currently performing complex service tasks to counter the armed aggression against Ukraine, including in the combat zone," Bakanov said.
The SSU confirmed in a comment to journalists that Lazarenko has been serving in the institution since March 2022, when Ivan Bakanov was the head of the Service:
"Lazarenko Artur Ivanovych was recruited for military service in the SSU on 21 March 2022 in the rank of junior sergeant, when I. Bakanov was the Head of the Security Service. We would also like to draw your attention to the fact that during martial law, the dismissal of the SSU servicemen is possible only if there are grounds specified in Article 26 of the Law of Ukraine "On Military Duty and Military Service".
