Zelensky dismisses the heads of security and prosecution.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the Prosecutor General and the head of the State Security Service. These dismissals come after reports that dozens of people from the security services are now working against Ukrainian interests in the territories occupied by Russia.
Through the decrees signed on July 17, the Prosecutor General, Iryna Venediktova, and Ivan Bakanov, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, known by the abbreviation SBU, have been dismissed.
In the statement, Zelensky, without mentioning Venediktova and Bakanov by name, said that “specific actions and any inaction of officials in the security sector and law enforcement agencies will be evaluated.”
He said that “to date, 651 criminal proceedings have been registered regarding treason and collaborationist activities of the employees of the Prosecutor’s Office, investigative bodies and other law enforcement agencies”.
“In particular, over 60 employees of the Prosecutor’s Office and the SBU are in the occupied territories and are now working against our state,” Zelensky said.
“Such a set of crimes against the foundations of national security of the state and the recorded links between the security forces of Ukraine and the special services of Russia raise serious questions for the relevant leaders.”
“Each of these questions will receive the right answer. Today, I have decided to remove the General Prosecutor and the head of the Security Service of Ukraine,” said Zelensky.
The duties of the General Prosecutor’s Office have been handed over to Oleksiy Symonenko, one of the decrees states. Symonenko has until now been the Deputy Prosecutor General.
Bakanov, a friend and former business partner of Zelensky, has led the SBU since August 2019, while Venediktova became Prosecutor General in March 2020.
Neither Zelensky, nor in the signed decrees, it is not indicated who will take the leadership of the SBU.