Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired two key officials in his cabinet, doubting their leadership abilities and accusing several of their subordinates of treason and collaboration with Russia.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and State Security Service (SBU) director Ivan Bakanov, a long-time associate of the president, were both fired. According to Zelensky, numerous officers in both departments were accused of treachery.
Zelnsky Urges To Intensify Search For New Leaders
He also added that the previous director of the Security Service's Main Directorate in Crimea had been imprisoned on suspicion of treason. Senior officials in the SBU of southern Ukraine have been blamed for Russian forces' ease in conquering large sections of the south within a week of the invasion.
Zelensky stated that there would be more activity. Zelensky also stated that the Prime Minister will be entrusted with stepping up efforts to find a new head of the National Anticorruption Bureau, according to CNN. In his statement, Zelensky stated that 651 instances of high treason had been initiated against law enforcement employees.
Before the invasion, Zelensky's Cabinet was a rotating door. Thereafter, senior personnel moves were uncommon until the dismissal of two top law enforcement officers on Sunday. Bakanov and Zelensky have been friends for decades. Zelensky, a childhood buddy, and Mr. Bakanov, the head of the Kvartal 95 studio, both worked in the entertainment sector.
Bakanov was one of the comedians who followed Zelensky into politics. Nonetheless, despite skepticism about their capabilities expressed by political opponents at home before Russia invaded Ukraine, Zelensky's administration surpassed expectations by continuing operations and organizing the country's defense during the war's tumultuous early months.
Other officials in Zelensky's government blamed Bakanov for intelligence blunders and missteps that allowed the Russian army to conquer Kherson in Ukraine's south with little combat, Politico reported in June.
Ukraine Warns Russia's Advanced Military Operations
Following Venediktova's dismissal on Sunday, a court ordered the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine to examine her failure to register property on an asset and income statement that officials are expected to file.
While it was unclear who would take Bakanov's place, the president's office appointed Oleksiy Symonenko as interim prosecutor general, according to Ukrinform. Venediktova's deputy had been Symonenko. In 2020, he was charged for illegally meddling in a corruption probe by Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau, Straits Times reported.
Ukraine has warned Russia that it is speeding up military activities in preparation for the next stage of its invasion. The number of Russian strikes has increased in the previous week, killing dozens, and a Ukrainian military officer predicts that this will continue. According to Ukraine, at least 40 people have been murdered in the previous three days as a result of the Russian bombardment of urban areas.
Rockets struck the northern village of Chuhuiv on Friday night, killing three people, including a 70-year-old lady, and injuring three others, according to regional governor Oleh Synehubov. To the south, more than 50 Russian Grad missiles blasted the Dnipro River city of Nikopol, killing two individuals who were discovered in the wreckage, according to governor Valentyn Reznichenko.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russia appeared to be collecting troops for an offensive on Sloviansk, a symbolically significant city controlled by Ukraine in the eastern part of Donetsk, as per Independent.
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