Zelenskiy boosts powers and personnel of Ukraine’s security service

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a law expanding the powers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and increasing its personnel, he announced in a video address on July 28.

The new law gives the SBU “greater capacity to carry out combat missions and special operations to protect Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said. He also increased the size of the SBU’s Special Operations Center “Alpha,” calling its members “among the most effective.”

According to the law, the SBU’s peacetime personnel will rise from 27,000 to 37,000, and in wartime from 31,000 to 41,000. The “Alpha” unit alone will have 10,000 members.