Roman Dudin’s unexpected dismissal is the first sign of Zelensky’s dissatisfaction with the way some officials in the Ukrainian provinces responded to the start of the invasion when Ukraine lost ground to Russian forces in a matter of days. .
Mr Zelensky did not specify Dudin’s alleged breaches, but the security chief on Monday backed down in a lengthy statement accusing the president of defaming his reputation.
“I’ve never allowed anyone to wipe my feet, be it a president or a normal person,” he said.
“The only reason I can be punished is the fact that I handed over weapons to the people. Kharkiv would have been captured in another way. As for other charges, I am prepared to do a lie detector test or whatever. something like that. “
Dudin said his political rivals were trying to turn him into a scapegoat for his own failures and attacked the Ukrainian army for withdrawing from the outskirts of the city in the early days of the war.
The former security chief also said he had hours of incriminating footage showing local officials conspiring to collaborate with the Russians.
Dudin’s dismissal seems to mark a return to the internal political struggles in Ukraine that have barely been seen since the outbreak of war on February 24th.
Last week, the SBU released the testimony of a jailed Ukrainian tycoon who accused Petro Poroshenko, a former Ukrainian president, of benefiting from the coal purchase of territory currently held by pro-Russian separatists.
Poroshenko denied the allegations, calling them a successful political job on Zelensky’s behalf.