Zelenskyi fires two high-ranking government officials

The President is therefore taking action in his security agencies.

Angered by the betrayal in the Ukrainian security apparatus, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed the heads of the secret service and the general public prosecutor’s office. More than 60 employees from these authorities remained in the Russian-occupied areas and collaborated with the enemy, Zelenskyj said in his video address on Sunday. The Presidential Office in Kyiv issued decrees dismissing the head of the SBU secret service, Ivan Bakanov, and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova.

Ukraine has been fighting the Russian war of aggression since February. Selenskyj has made almost no personnel changes during this time. He gave figures on the defectors: There are 651 criminal proceedings against employees of the public prosecutor’s office and other law enforcement agencies for high treason and collaboration with Russian services. In 198 cases, those affected were informed that they were under suspicion.

Bankanov is a close companion of Zelenskyj

This “series of crimes against the foundations of national security” raises serious questions for agency leaders, the president said. He confirmed that a senior SBU official formerly in charge of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea had been arrested.

Bakanov is a close companion of Zelenskyj from his days as a television comedian, he has headed the secret service since 2019. No successor has been named for him. The General Prosecutor’s Office is to be temporarily headed by Oleksiy Simonenko. Zelenskyi also announced recruitment processes for top posts in anti-corruption agencies.