Zelensky plans to step up action against Russian spies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced further measures to ramp up action against Russian agents in the country's civil service.

The intelligence service, investigators and prosecutors already have significant results to show in protecting state institutions from undercover agents working for Russia, Zelensky said in his evening video message broadcast on Saturday.

Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council will continue this work, Zelensky said. The goal, he said, is to strengthen state institutions and protect them from internal and external influence.

Zelensky also promised more transparency within his own state institutions.

The state administration, which in many cases is still marked by corruption and abuses of power, still has a long way to go before it can start negotiations on its hoped-for EU membership. "The state will continue to modernize its institutions, processes and procedures," he said in the video message.