Ukrainian top officials not fired but suspended
Two top Ukrainian officials have not been fired, but have been suspended pending further investigation. An aide to President Volodimir Zelensky says a day after it was reported that SBU secret service chief Ivan Bakanov and Attorney General Irina Venediktova had been fired.
Zelensky announced on Sunday that the two had been removed from office because more than 60 of their officials in Russian-occupied territory would oppose Ukraine. When asked if they can resume their work after the investigation, Zelenski’s employee replied that he can imagine that this is possible.
Bakanov is a close confidant of Zelensky and has been the head of the secret service since 2019. Venediktova leads the investigation into more than 18,000 cases of alleged war crimes. Last week she was in The Hague for a conference on the prosecution of war crimes committed in Ukraine.