Leonid Derkach

Leonid Vasylovych Derkach (Ukrainian: Леоні́д Васи́льович Де́ркач; b. July 19, 1939 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine SSR) is a Ukrainian politician, and former Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (22 April 1998 – 10 February 2001). General of Army of Ukraine. He heads one of the five groups in the "Clan of Dnipropetrovsk."[1][lower-alpha 1]

Career

From 1957 to 1972, Derkach worked at the Soviet Rocket giant Yuzhmash (Ukrainian: ПО "Пiвденмаш") in Dnipropetrovsk (today Dnipro).[2] From 1958-1961 while he worked at Yuzhmash, he studied at the Dnepropetrovsk Mechinists Technical School.[3][4] He was in the Soviet Army from 1961-1964.[2][3] From 1964-1970, he studied at Dniepropetrovsk State University graduating in 1970 with a Physics and Technical PhD as a mechanical engineer of aeronautics.[2][3][5] After graduation, he worked as a senior process engineer at Yuzhmash from 1970-1972.[3]

He graduated Dzerzhinsky Higher School in 1973.[5] From March of 1972 to December of 1992 he worked for the Ukrainian SSR's branch of the KGB (in 1992 became Security Service of Ukraine) in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.[2][5]

Through the Mykola Melnychenko recordings of 2000, Derkach is close to Russian mafia leader Semyon Mogilevich.[6][7] According to Derkach in these recordings, Vladimir Putin is also very close to Mogilevich.[7]

Derkach was fired in 2001 for his alleged involvement in the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.[1][8][9]

In 2005, the report of the ad hoc committee of the Ukrainian parliament investigating the murder concluded that Gongadze's murder had been organized by then President of Ukraine Kuchma and his Minister of the Interior Yuriy Kravchenko and that Derkach had been involved in the crimes.[10]

He is a member of the Fourth Convocation of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine parliament) representing okrug number 36 in the Dniepropetrovsk Region from May 14, 2002, until May 25, 2006.[11]

Family

His son, Andrii Derkach, who is also a Russian intelligence operative that graduated from the KGB's Dzerzhinsky Higher School now known as the FSB Academy, is a close ally to Rudy Giuliani during 2019 and 2020 for support of Donald Trump's Presidential campaign.[8][12][13][14][15]

Notes
  1. Of the Clan of Dnipropetrovsk, the Derkach group of Leonid and his son Andrii are close to the Leonid Kuchma group. The Viktor Pinchuk group is a rival of the Derkach group. The Yulia Timoshenko group is a rival of the Kuchma group. The fifth group is the Privatbank group.[1]

References
  1. Schneider, Eberhard (February 20, 2007). "Ukraine - gespalten zwischen Ost und West (Ukraine - divided between East and West)". Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (German Federal Agency for Civic Education). Retrieved December 5, 2019. (Translation of relevant paragraphs at Talk on page of Andrii Derkach, L. Derkach's son)
  2. "Деркач Леонід Васильович" [Derkach Leonid Vasylovych]. Офіційна Україна сьогодні (Official Ukraine today) website (in Ukrainian). Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  3. "Деркач Леонид Васильевич" [Derkach Leonid Vasylovych]. голос ua website (in Ukrainian). Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  4. "Професійний коледж ракетно-космічного машинобудування Дніпропетровський національний університет імені Олеся Гончара: Історія коледжу" [Professional College of Rocket and Space Machine Building Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University: History of the College] (in Ukrainian). Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  5. "ДЕРКАЧ ЛЕОНІД ВАСИЛЬОВИЧ" [Derkach Leonid Vasylovych]. Державна митна служба України (State Customs Service of Ukraine) website (in Ukrainian). December 22, 2012. Archived from the original on December 22, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  6. Sterbenz, Christina (1 December 2014). "The worst gangster most people have never heard of". Business Insider. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  7. Kupchinsky, Roman (March 25, 2009). "The Strange Ties between Semion Mogilevich and Vladimir Putin". Jamestown Foundation, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 57. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  8. Blake, Aaron (5 December 2019). "The murder story involving the 'Ukrainian Putin,' who just met with Rudy Giuliani". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  9. Tyler, Patrick E. (12 February 2001). "Ukraine Rally Calls on Chief To Step Down". New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  10. "Case of Gongadze v. Ukraine". HUDOC - European Court of Human Rights. February 8, 2005. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  11. "Деркач Леонід Васильович" [Derkach Leonid Vasylovych]. Верховнa Радa України (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine) website. Archived from the original on January 25, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  12. Dilanian, Ken; Lee, Carol E. (October 16, 2020). "CIA, other spy agencies told White House about Rudy Giuliani's dealings with alleged Russian agents: The U.S. wasn't spying on Giuliani, but on people with whom he talked, including Andrii Derkach, identified by the Treasury Department as a Russian agent". NBC News. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  13. Tucker, Eric (October 16, 2020). "Biden Email Episode Illustrates Risk to Trump From Giuliani: A New York tabloid's puzzling account about how it acquired emails purportedly from Joe Biden's son has raised some red flags". US News. Associated Press. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  14. Walsh, Joe (October 16, 2020). "Reports: FBI Probing If N.Y. Post's Hunter Biden Email Dump Was Part Of Foreign Influence Campaign". Forbes. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  15. Walsh, Joe (October 15, 2020). "'That's Rudy': Trump Reportedly Shrugged At Giuliani's Russia Ties". Forbes. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
Government offices
Preceded by
Volodymyr Radchenko		 Director of the Security Service of Ukraine
1998-2001		 Succeeded by
Volodymyr Radchenko
Preceded by
Yuriy Kravchenko		 Chair of the State Customs Service
1995-1998		 Succeeded by
Yuriy Solovkov
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