Volodymyr Zelensky sacked the head of the country’s security chief.
As Moscow seemed prepared to intensify military operations, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the director of the internal security agency and the state prosecutor.
He alleges hundreds of instances of suspected treason and cooperation with Russia.
In Russian-occupied territory, Zelenskiy said that over 60 members of the SBU security agency and prosecutor’s office were working against Ukraine.
Therefore, 651 treason and cooperation charges had been filed against law enforcement personnel.
The dismissals of Ivan Bakanov, the head of the security service, and Iryna Venediktova, the prosecutor general, who oversaw efforts to bring charges against Russian war criminals, as well as the sheer volume of treason cases, on Sunday highlight the enormous challenge posed by Russian infiltration as Kyiv battles Moscow in what it claims is a battle for survival.
Such a wide range of offenses against the state’s foundations for national security, according to Zelenskiy, “raise extremely severe issues to the relevant officials.” Accordingly, “An appropriate response will be given to each of these queries.
Zelensky brought up the recent treason arrest of the former head of the SBU in charge of the Crimea region—the peninsula Russia seized in 2014 but that Kyiv and the West still consider to be Ukrainian territory—in his nightly address to the country.
Zelensky said that his choice to dismiss the chief security officer at the beginning of the invasion was vindicated.
“Enough information has been gathered to place this individual under suspicion of treason. All of his illicit activity is recorded, the man said.
Eric is a professional news editor, writer, and blogger for the last 10 years. He is working with NewsGater as an off-beat news editor cum writer.