Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Decree No. 837/2026 on August 31, 2026, temporarily appointing Vadym Chenchik, Deputy Head of the State Border Service (SBS), as the acting head of the agency. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the president's official website. The decree took effect on the day of its signing, meaning the immediate transfer of operational control of the border agency to the new interim leader.
Two Decrees in One Day: Dismissal and Appointment
The personnel decision was formalized through a pair of documents signed on the same day. By Decree No. 836/2026, Valeriy Vavrynyuk was relieved of his duties as head of the State Border Service of Ukraine. Immediately afterward, Decree No. 837/2026 transferred his functions to his deputy — Vadym Chenchik. Thus, the agency underwent a smooth but complete change in interim leadership: the previous head left the post, and his successor for the period of acting duties became the incumbent Deputy Head of the SBS.
Who Is Vadym Chenchik
Vadym Chenchik is a Ukrainian military officer, a major general, who has held the position of Deputy Head of the State Border Service since 2019. He was born on November 15, 1972, in the settlement of Katerynopil in Cherkasy Oblast. According to data available in open sources, Chenchik holds three higher education degrees: in 1994 he graduated from the Lviv Polytechnic, in 1998 from the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Ukraine Border Troops Academy, and in 2006 from the Kharkiv National Pedagogical University. He was awarded the rank of major general in 2022, and in 2011 he was decorated with the "For Military Service to Ukraine" medal.
Career in Border Structures
Chenchik began his military service in 1994 and has since steadily progressed through officer and leadership positions in border units. In various years he headed the Mostyskyi and Mukachevskyi border detachments and also held leadership positions in the Eastern and Western Regional Directorates of the Border Service. This profile — a combination of field service in detachments and managerial experience in regional structures — determined his appointment as the interim head of the entire agency in 2026.
Context: Parallel Personnel Decisions
Chenchik's appointment fits into a broader context of presidential personnel decisions made during the same period. In particular, Volodymyr Zelensky appointed new judges to the High Anti-Corruption Court and its Appellate Chamber: 11 HACC judges and five appellate-instance judges were appointed to their positions. According to available assessments, this decision is necessary to meet the conditions related to the further provision of financial support to Ukraine by the EU in the amount of 250–300 million euros. The combination of these steps indicates the simultaneous resolution of personnel issues in the law enforcement agencies and the judicial system.
