Volodymyr Zelenskiy has fired the head of Ukraine’s powerful internal security agency, the SBU, and the state attorney general, citing dozens of cases of collaboration with Russia by officials of its agencies.
The abrupt dismissals on Sunday of the head of the SBU, Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Zelenskiy, and the Attorney General Iryna Venediktova, who played a key role in prosecuting Russian war crimes, were announced in orders executives on the president’s website.
In a Telegram post, Zelenskiy said he had fired top officials because it had come to light that many members of his agencies had collaborated with Russia, a problem he said had also affected other agencies.
Zelenskiy dismisses Ukraine’s chief spy and prosecutor, citing collaboration with Russia – video
He said that 651 cases of alleged treason and collaboration had been opened against prosecution and law enforcement officials, and that more than 60 officials from Bakanov and Venediktova agencies are now working against Ukraine in the occupied territories. for Russia.
The large number of cases of treason highlights the enormous challenge of Russian infiltration that Ukraine faces as it fights Moscow in what it says is a struggle for survival.
“Such a set of crimes against the foundations of the state’s national security … raises very serious questions for relevant leaders,” Zelenskiy said. “Each of these questions will receive an appropriate answer.”
Russian troops have captured areas of southern and eastern Ukraine during an invasion that has killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed cities.
It is still unclear how the Russian-occupied Kherson region fell so rapidly, in contrast to the strong resistance around Kyiv that it forced Russia to withdraw to focus on capturing the industrial heart of the Donbas in the east.
In his nightly speech to the nation, Zelenskiy noted the recent arrest on suspicion of treason of the former head of the SBU who oversaw the Crimean region, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 that Kyiv and the west still consider land of Ukraine.
Zelenskiy said he had fired the top security official at the start of the invasion, a decision he said had now been shown to be justified. “Sufficient evidence has been gathered to report this person on suspicion of treason. All his criminal activities are documented,” he said.
Bakanov was appointed to head the SBU in 2019, one of several new faces that took center stage after Zelenskiy, a former comedian, won the election earlier this year.
Zelenskiy appointed Oleksiy Symonenko as the new Attorney General in a separate executive order that was also posted on the president’s website.