Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky intervenes further with the Ukrainian secret service SBU. After he laid off the boss on Sunday, he announced the resignation of nearly thirty employees a day later.
In his daily video message on the Russian invasion, the president spoke of “unsatisfactory” results. He announced that all activities of the SBU would be overhauled. Zelensky had previously expressed his annoyance at the fact that sixty employees of, among others, the secret service were left behind in territory occupied by Russians. The government in Kyiv sees this as high treason.
The measure against SBU head Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Zelensky, caused quite a stir, as did the one against Attorney General Iryna Venediktova. Justice officials would also work with the occupying forces. The two have been suspended during the investigation into their dealings.
Bakanov has been the head of the Secret Service since 2019, but as an inexperienced leader, he would have had little authority. Venediktova leads the investigation into thousands of alleged war crimes committed by the Russians. She was recently in The Hague for a conference on the prosecution of war crimes committed in Ukraine.
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