The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, fired the head of the national security service, the SBU, and the state prosecutor, for the hundreds of cases of alleged treason and collaboration with Russia that took place in their agencies. This is the largest purge of senior officials in his government since the beginning of the invasion on February 24.
According to the Ukrainian president, more than 60 employees of the security service and the prosecutor's office have worked against Ukraine and for Russia in the territories occupied by Russian and pro-Russian forces. In total, the Ukrainian authorities are investigating 651 cases of alleged treason between members of the security forces.
The dismissal on Sunday of Ivan Bakanov, head of the security service and Zelensky's childhood friend, and Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova, who led efforts to prosecute Russian war crimes, and the large number of treason cases reveal the daunting challenge of Russian infiltration as Kyiv battles Moscow in a battle for survival.
The ruler also revealed that connections had been detected between the Ukrainian security forces and Russia's special services, which "constituted a crime against the foundations of national security and raised very serious questions for the leaders involved," Zelensky said in a speech. issued last night. "Each of these questions will receive an answer," he continued.
Venediktova led in particular the investigation of the atrocities committed at the beginning of the invasion of Russian forces in the city of Bucha, a north-western suburb of Kyiv, which in the eyes of the West has become a symbol of "war crimes". Russian" in Ukraine.
