Ukrainian Prez Zelensky suspends two high-ranking officials amid charges of collaborating with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has suspended two high-ranking officials in his government, questioning their leadership qualities and accusing many of their subordinates of treason and collaborating with Russia. The two high-ranking officials, Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and State Security Service (SBU) head Ivan Bakanov, a long-time associate of the President, are now subject to an investigation and have been temporarily replaced.

Talking to Ukrainian television yesterday, the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andrii Smyrnov, said, for a long enough time, they have been waiting for more concrete and sufficiently radical results from the leaders of these two departments, to clean their departments of collaborators and state traitors. Mr. Smyrnov said, however, in the sixth month of the military operation launched by Russia, the two heads continue to find packs of these people, in each of these departments.

In his video address on Sunday night , President Zelensky appeared to suggest that the two officials had been fired. He said, more than 60 former employees were now working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied areas. He added that a total of 651 collaboration and treason cases had been opened against law enforcement officials.

But Mr Smyrnov yesterday said, the pair have been suspended to ensure they did not interfere with the investigations. President Zelensky will decide whether or not to submit a motion to dismiss them to Ukraine’s parliament, depending on the results of the probe.