DONETSK, August 19. /TASS/. Yevgeny Khmara, a former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), will continue to organize sabotage and terrorist attacks in Russia as defense minister, Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) deputy Alexander Boroday told TASS.

Khmara is an officer of Ukraine’s state security agencies. He served, among others, in the SBU’s Special Operations Center "A" (also known as the Alpha Group). On August 19, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) voted to appoint him as defense minister.

"If [Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Mikhail] Drapaty is already responsible for the military units, and holding the front, then Khmara will, naturally, try to carry out sabotage operations inside Russia. Sabotage, terrorist attacks, and ideological operations aimed at undermining social stability here. He was already doing this at the SBU, but as defense minister, he may be, so to speak, somewhat 'more effective', simply because he will, of course, have more resources at his disposal," Boroday said.

The lawmaker noted that Khmara essentially remains an "SBU special forces operative", which is why he will use the same methods in his new position that he used previously. The Duma member also emphasized that the more Ukraine’s combat-ready manpower is depleted, the more frequently Kiev resorts to terror and sabotage.