National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine


The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, or RNBO, is the coordinating state body of the executive power under the President of Ukraine on issues of national security and defense.
It is a state agency tasked with developing and coordinating a policy of national security on domestic and international matters in advising the President of Ukraine. All the sessions of the council take place in the Presidential Administration Building. The agency's membership is determined by the President, but it must include the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Defense, Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. As of December 2024, the council is headed by secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko, who replaced Oleksiy Danilov on 26 March 2024.
Since 2014, the Council has received expanded powers, including the authority to impose sanctions. Under the presidency of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, starting in 2021, the NSDC has actively implemented sanctions against Ukrainian citizens. This practice has been criticized by human rights organizations and legal experts as potentially unconstitutional and inconsistent with the principles of the rule of law, alleging it is used for politically motivated purposes.
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Current composition

As of March 2024, the National Security and Defence Council consists of the following members:
NameTitle
Volodymyr ZelenskyyPresident of Ukraine and Chairman of the NSDC
Oleksandr LytvynenkoSecretary of the NSDC
Denys ShmyhalPrime Minister of Ukraine
Rustem UmerovMinister of Defense
Andrii SybihaMinister of Foreign Affairs
Serhiy MarchenkoMinister of Finance
Ihor KlymenkoMinister of Internal Affairs
Herman HalushchenkoMinister of Energy
Yulia LaputinaMinister for Veterans Affairs
Oleksandr SyrskyCommander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Vasyl MalyukHead of the Ukrainian Security Service
Andriy KostinProsecutor General of Ukraine
Andriy YermakHead of the Office of the President of Ukraine
Anatoliy ZahorodniyPresident of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Oleksandr LyvtynenkoChairman of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine
Oleksandr KamyshinMinister for Strategic Industries
Yulia SvyrydenkoFirst Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy
Ruslan StefanchukChairman of the Verkhovna Rada
Olha StefanishynaDeputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine
Mykhailo FedorovDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation
Filip ProninHead of the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine
Andriy PyshnyiGovernor of the National Bank of Ukraine

Functions

Sanctions against Ukrainian citizens

The sanctions policy of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine has been widely criticized for the application of personal restrictive measures against Ukrainian citizens without a court ruling, which violates the Constitution of Ukraine and fundamental principles of the rule of law. Sanctions are imposed by NSDC resolution based on the Law “On Sanctions”, but the mechanism does not provide for judicial involvement, which contradicts legal standards of the European Union and other democratic states.
Human rights organizations, including the Center for Civil Liberties, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, and the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, have pointed out the unconstitutional nature of this practice. They emphasize that the NSDC is a political body and lacks the authority to carry out quasi-judicial functions. In February 2025, several Ukrainian human rights organizations issued a joint statement condemning the use of sanctions as a tool of political pressure against the opposition.
According to critics, the sanctions mechanism has increasingly been used as a political instrument by incumbent President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to eliminate political rivals and strengthen control over the media and business sectors. Sanctions have targeted opposition politicians, journalists, and businessmen, including former President Petro Poroshenko, oligarchs Ihor Kolomoyskyi and Gennadiy Bogolyubov, journalist Svitlana Kryukova, former presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych, and businessman Kostyantyn Zhevago.
International human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have voiced similar criticism, stating that sanctions are being “systematically used as a tool of political persecution.”

History

Defense Council

The Defense Council was created by the provision of Supreme Council of Ukraine #1658-12 on October 11, 1991. The Defense Council was defined as the highest state body of collegiate governing on matters of defense and security of Ukraine with following goals:
  • Protecting sovereignty
  • Constitutional order
  • Territorial integrity and inviolability of the republic
  • Developing strategies and continuous improvement of policy in sphere of defense and state security
  • Comprehensive scientific assessment of the military threat nature
  • Determining position toward modern warfare
  • Effective control over the execution of the tasks of the state and its institutions keeping defense capabilities of Ukraine at the level of defense sufficiency
On January 23, 1992, the President of Ukraine appointed Myroslav Vitovsky as a secretary of the Defense Council, a position which Vitovsky held until November 30, 1995.

Initial composition

After the establishment and elections of the President of Ukraine the composition of the council was reformed on April 9, 1992, by a provision of the Verkhovna Rada.

National Security Council

The Council was originally created under temporary provision on July 3, 1992, as the National Security Council, but significantly revamped and strengthened under President Leonid Kuchma in 1994. The council was headed by a Presidential adviser in national security matters:
  • July 1, 1992 - April 19, 1993 Volodymyr Selivanov
  • * before November 19, 1992 as State adviser of Ukraine on national security matters
  • December 1, 1993 - August 5, 1994 Valeriy Kartavtsev
  • August 5, 1994 - November 10, 1999 Volodymyr Horbulin
  • * since October 17, 1994 as Secretary of National Security Council - Adviser of the President of Ukraine on national security matters
On August 23, 1994, the President of Ukraine adopted new provision for the Council. After the adaptation of the Constitution of Ukraine on June 28, 1996, the provisions of the council were outlined in the Article 107. Thus, the National Security Council was merged with the already existing Defense Council of Ukraine and was adapted by the Presidential edict on August 30, 1996.
According to former secretary Andriy Klyuyev, 460 people worked at the Council in 2010, while in April 2012 the number of employees was 90. President Viktor Yanukovych limited the number of employees of the Council to 180 on 9 April 2012.
The agency's membership is determined by the President, but it must include the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Defense, Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The head of the council is the President of Ukraine assisted by the secretary whom they are allowed to appoint. In the absence of existing President of Ukraine, such as between elections, the acting chairman of the council is the Prime Minister. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada is not a member of the council, but they are allowed to participate in the meetings. Members of the council may also be other chairmen of government bodies of the executive branch. Any other individual is only allowed by special invitation from the Chairman of the Council.
If the President resigns, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada becomes the acting head of the National Security and Defense Council.