The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky (photo)fired 28 secret service members (the Security Service or SBU) considering that perform their job “unsatisfactorily”. Zelensky intends to carry out an “in-depth review” of the service as a whole that will be done “from different levels and different perspectives,” as he announced in his last video message to citizens.
The expulsion of the 28 members of the SBU follows the announcement of the dismissal of the prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, and the head of the Security Service, Ivan Bakanov, which ceased on July 17. Both dismissals were ratified by the Parliament, since according to the Ukrainian Constitution the president does not have the power to dismiss them.
Zelensky’s decision represented the largest reshuffle of his government since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24 and affected two people closely linked to his political career. Communicating the dismissals, Zelenski reported that more than 60 employees of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Security Service of Ukraine remain in the occupied territories and “work against our state.”
The president also said that they had detected connections between Ukrainian security forces and Russian special services, which “constituted a crime against the foundations of national security”. Zelenski assured that “they registered 651 criminal proceedings for high treason and collaboration between prosecutorial employees and other law enforcement agencies.”
Venediktova, attorney general since March 2020, has been repeatedly criticized for her alleged inability to pursue high-profile cases. Bakanov, a childhood friend and former employee of Zelensky, was appointed head of the SBU in August 2019.