Parliament fired officials two days after Zelensky suspended them for failing to eliminate Russian collaborators.
Ukraine’s parliament has fired the head of domestic security and the prosecutor general, two days after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy suspended them for failing to banish Russian spies.
Ivan Bakanov was fired from his post at the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) by a comfortable majority, several lawmakers said on Tuesday in the messaging application Telegram.
The head of Zelenskyy’s political faction said Iryna Venediktova had also been fired as attorney general.
In a statement posted to Telegram minutes before his dismissal was confirmed, Bakanov said “miscalculations” had been made during his tenure, but that he was proud of his track record.
Following the vote, Zelenskyy’s ruling ruling parliamentary party and close ally, David Arakhamia, wrote to Telegram that Venediktova “followed the team” and hinted that he should hold a diplomatic post.
“His experience will serve the state in a new place, which needs to be reinforced by professional executives and lawyers,” he wrote.
As part of the reshuffle stemming from the alleged collaboration with Russian authorities, Zelenskyy also fired on Tuesday the heads of five regional branches of the SBU and a deputy head of the agency.
Zelenskyi said on Sunday that 651 cases had been opened for alleged treason and collaboration by prosecutors and law enforcement officials, and that more than 60 people from Bakanov and Venediktova agencies are now working against Kyiv in occupied Ukraine for Russia.