The news of Lyapkin's death was initially reported by former Ukrainian deputy Oleh Tsarov and later independently confirmed by Mediazona. A former emergency service officer from the Moscow region, Colonel Eduard Malov, was reportedly killed alongside him. Both soldiers were killed on March 17, 2026. Lyapkin was the head of the operational documentation department of the SBU during the tenure of former pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. According to Tsarov, his area of responsibility included "the invisible side of the SBU's work—wiretapping, external surveillance, and information gathering." Lyapkin became a major general in 2013. That same year, he personally participated in dispersing protests at Maidan, Tsarov said. In February 2014, immediately after the victory of the Maidan demonstrators, Lyapkin was dismissed from the SBU along with other high-ranking officers. He fled to Russia and settled in occupied Crimea. In 2025, the SBU served Volodymyr Lyapkin with a notice of suspicion for collaborating with the Russians. According to the investigation, as deputy head and acting head of the "State Security Service," he was involved in "filtration measures" and repression against the civilian population.