Volodymyr Zelensky has sacked the head of the country's security service and state prosecutor, citing hundreds of cases of alleged treason and collaboration with Russia, in the biggest shake-up since the war with its neighbour started.
The Ukrainian president announced he was firing prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova and domestic security service chief, and childhood friend, Ivan Bakanov.
Both high-ranking officials were playing crucial roles in the Ukrainian response to Russia’s attack. Ms Venediktova was leading the efforts to prosecute Russian war crimes while Mr Bakanov, appointed by Mr Zelensky, was running the country’s secret services operations.
The president said more than 60 officials from the Security Service of Ukraine or the SBU and the prosecutor’s office were working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied territories, and 651 treason and collaboration cases had been opened against law enforcement officials.
“Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state... pose very serious questions to the relevant leaders,” Mr Zelensky said. “Each of these questions will receive a proper answer.”
Mr Zelensky, in his nightly address, also said that the recent findings justify his move to fire the top security official who was earlier looking over SBU’s activities in Crimea, at the start of the invasion.
“Sufficient evidence has been collected to report this person on suspicion of treason. All his criminal activities are documented,” he said.
On Monday, President Zelensky announced that Vasyl Maliuk would replace Mr Bakanov, and had been given the role of acting chief of the State Security Service.
The sackings come as Russia appeared to step up its military operations and the European Union was set to discuss tightening sanctions against Moscow on Monday.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu on Saturday ordered military units to intensify operations to prevent Ukrainian strikes on areas held by Russia, according to a statement from the ministry.
Ukrainian military intelligence later reported shelling along the entire frontline and what it said was preparation for the next stage of the Russian offensive. It also said Russia appeared to be regrouping units for an offensive toward Sloviansk, a symbolically important city held by Ukraine in the eastern region of Donetsk.
The British defence ministry in its latest update on Monday said Russia has used private military company, Wagner, which hires convicts and formerly blacklisted individuals, to reinforce front-line forces and to mitigate manning shortfalls and casualties.
Ahead of the EU talks, Mr Zelensky said Russia had used more than 3,000 cruise missiles to date and it was “impossible to count” the number of artillery and other strikes so far.
Attacks have been frequently reported on residential buildings with thousands of civilians killed. More than six million have also been forced to flee Ukraine since the start of the invasion and eight million internally displaced, according to the United Nations.
Ukraine and the West accuse Russian forces of war crimes, but Moscow rejects the charges and still calls it a military operation instead of an invasion.
Additional reporting by agencies
