This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
A Ukrainian official has clarified that two senior officials have been suspended pending investigations but have not been formally dismissed as had previously been reported.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced on July 17 that Ivan Bakanov had been removed as head of the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, and Iryna Venediktova had been removed as prosecutor general, citing dozens of cases of collaboration with Russia by officials in their agencies.
Andriy Smyrnov, deputy head of the presidential office, told Ukrainian television that Venediktova had been suspended and Bakanov had been “temporarily removed from fulfilling his duties” while “checks and investigations” are carried out.
Asked whether the two officials could return to their jobs if the investigations exonerate them, he said: “We live in a law-abiding country, and of course I can conceive of (the possibility of) this.”
In a statement on July 17, Zelenskiy said, without mentioning Venediktova or Bakanov by name, that “the specific actions and any inaction of each official in the security sector and in law-enforcement agencies will be evaluated.”
He said that, “as of today, 651 criminal proceedings have been registered regarding treason and collaboration activities of employees of the prosecutor’s office, pre-trial investigation bodies, and other law-enforcement agencies.”
“In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutor’s office and the SBU remained in the occupied territory and are working against our state,” he said.
