Zelensky fires dozens of senior officials for working against Ukraine
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky issued executive orders late on Sunday dismissing the State Security Service head and the Prosecutor General. The orders dismissing domestic security chief Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Zelenskiy, and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, who leads the effort to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine, were published on the president's official website.
- World
- Reuters
- Published Date: 11:15 | 17 July 2022
- Modified Date: 11:23 | 17 July 2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky followed up on decrees in which he removed the State Security Service head and his Prosecutor General by saying more than 60 of their employees were working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied territory.
He said 651 criminal proceedings had been registered relating to high treason and collaboration by employees of prosecutor's offices, pretrial investigation bodies and other law enforcement agencies.
"In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutor's office and the Security Service of Ukraine remained in the occupied territory and are working against our state," he said.
He said that such crimes raised "very serious questions" for the relevant leaders, and added, "Each of these questions will receive a proper answer."