Ukrainian President Volomidir Zelensky. /
The president of Ukraine accuses them of collaborating with the Russian army
Volodimir Zelensky has dismissed with immediate effect the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Ivan Bakanov, and the country’s attorney general, Irina Venediktova, as the Ukrainian president announced this Sunday in a presidential decree followed by a public appearance, in which he has accused employees of both departments of carrying out acts of treason against the Ukrainian State.
Venediktova, until now in charge of prosecuting Russian war crimes, will be replaced by Oleksiy Simonenko while Bakalov’s replacement has not been announced, until now a member of the president’s closest circle of friends and from whom the president, according to sources of the American news portal Politico, had distanced himself after the fall of the Kherson region in Russian hands during the first weeks of the war.
According to the decree published on the website of the Presidency of Ukraine, Bakalov has been dismissed in accordance with Article 47 of the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which refers to the “failure to perform (or improper performance of) duties of service with the consequent cost of human lives. For her part, the prosecutor has been dismissed by virtue of the war powers assumed by Zelenski after the Russian invasion of the country, without giving further details. The decree specifically refers to article 11 of the martial law that is in force in Ukraine and that “gives the President the power to dismiss an official whose appointment is under his authority.”
“Treason against the fatherland”
In an appearance before the population after announcing the dismissals, the President of Ukraine has argued that around 60 members of the staff of the Office of the General Prosecutor and the Security Service “remained in the territories occupied by Russia and collaborated with the Russians”.
“Such a set of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state and the connections that have been recorded between the employees of the Ukrainian security forces and the special services of Russia raise very serious questions about their respective leaders,” the official said. president in a speech collected on the website of the Presidency.
Zelensky has mentioned as an example the arrest this weekend of the former head of the SBU for Crimea, Oleg Kulinich, on charges of treason. The president had dismissed him in March, a few days after the conflict began.
Ukrainian authorities suspect that Kulinich, appointed by Bakalov, ordered the dismantling of Ukrainian minefields along the demarcation line with Crimea last winter, which allowed Russian forces to advance very easily in the south of the country and take the Kherson region in particular.
“This person was fired by me at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and, as we can see, that decision was absolutely justified, and we have gathered enough evidence to notify this person of suspected treason,” he said.
The president added “all those who together with him were part of a criminal group working in collusion with the Russian Federation will also be held responsible for the transfer of secret information to the enemy and other acts of cooperation with Russian special services”.
The president has assured in his speech that “651 criminal proceedings have already been registered for treason and collaboration activities in employees of prosecutors, investigative bodies and other agencies in charge of law enforcement.”
Finally, Zelenski has requested the appointment of a new head of the country’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, as well as that of an additional independent anti-corruption agency, as requested at the time by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, as a condition for promoting Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, reports Bloomberg.