Ivan Bakanov, until now the head of Ukraine’s internal security service, is a childhood friend of Zelensky. Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova had taken over the effort to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tonight claimed that more than 60 employees of the State Security Service and the General Prosecutor’s Office were working against the country in Russian-occupied territories.
A few minutes earlier, on the website of the Ukrainian presidency, an executive decree was posted by which Zelensky dismissed the heads of these two agencies.
According to the Ukrainian president, 651 criminal investigations have been launched on charges of high treason and cooperation against employees of prosecutor’s offices, pre-trial investigation services and other law enforcement agencies.
Among other things, “more than 60 employees of the prosecutor’s office and the Security Service of Ukraine remained in the occupied territories and are working against our state,” he added.
Zelensky said the offenses “raise very serious questions” for the heads of the agencies and added: “Each of these questions will receive an appropriate answer.”
The head of the powerful internal security service, the SBU, was Ivan Bakanov, Zelensky’s childhood friend. Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova had taken over the effort to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Oleksii Simonenko was appointed as the new Prosecutor General.
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