According to the Ukrainian president himself, 651 criminal proceedings have also been launched in connection with treason and collaboration
Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelensky on Monday appointed “temporary” or “acting” director of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Vasili Maliuk to replace Iván Bakanov, who was removed from office on Sunday by the president, who is now In turn, the post of Attorney General, Irina Venedíktova, was also suspended.
Both are suspected of “high treason”, but will not be fired, but “removed from their positions”, according to the Ukrainian presidency, while the degree of involvement in the crime of collaboration with the enemy they are alleged to have committed is being investigated and clarified. Venedíktova was already replaced at the head of the prosecutor’s office on Sunday by Oleksiy Simonenko.
Zelensky suspended Bakanov’s post “in accordance with Article 47 of the Disciplinary Charter of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, which refers to “failure to perform duty duties that have caused human casualties, other serious consequences or the threat of such consequences. What Venedíktova, she was removed on the basis of a rule enshrined in the martial law declared in May, which gives the head of state a free hand to suspend an official whose appointment or dismissal falls within his purview. Attorney General by decree with the consent of Parliament.
However, the legal department of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian unicameral parliament) states in a report that the constitution does not give Zelensky the power to decide on the dismissal of officials under his care. According to Oleksandr Marusyak, a constitutional law expert quoted by the Ukrainian website Liga.net, “neither the constitution nor the relevant law on the prosecution provides any possibility for the president to dismiss the attorney general.” However, the lawyer added, “the president, without the permission of the Verkhovna Rada, replaced the attorney general and assigned his functions to another without specifying a specific period.”
For his part, the member of the National Security Committee of the Rada, Fyodor Venislavsky, believes that Zelensky’s decrees are legally correct. According to him, “under martial law, decisions must be made quickly, sometimes there is no time to agree on each of the procedural steps.”
Zelensky argued on Sunday after the decrees were signed that the “rotations” undertaken in the SBU and the Attorney General’s Office are motivated by the presence of “a large number of traitors”. Coincidentally, the current layoffs were preceded by the arrest of Oleg Kulínich, who until March had occupied the Crimean SBU department, an office to be handed over to Kherson after Russia’s annexation of the peninsula. To illustrate his fears, the Ukrainian president referred precisely to Kulínich, who is accused by investigators of passing information to Russia classified as a “state secret.”
Zelensky also recalled his decisions regarding several regional secret service officials and mentioned the resignation, on March 31, of the head of the SBU in Kherson, Serhiy Krivoruchko. Now I don’t have time to spend with traitors. But little by little they will all be punished,” Zelensky said at the time.
According to Liga.net, Kherson’s mayor, Igor Kolyjáev, admitted on March 25 that some city councilors fled the city before it was occupied by Russian troops. And on February 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine, local officials of the prosecutor’s office, the police and the SBU had already left Kherson.
On June 24, the American media website Politico announced that Zelensky wanted to remove Bakanov, a friend of his since childhood, because he was the one who appointed Kulinich and did not act correctly against the “traitors” who allowed Russian troops to advance quickly from the Crimea and occupy the entire Kherson region in the early days of the war. It turns out that, as they suspect to the Ukrainian president, Kulinich ordered the dismantling of the minefields along the border with Crimea, facilitating the movements of Russian troops. According to Zelensky, “this person was removed by me at the beginning of the invasion and, as we can see, that decision was absolutely justified. We have gathered sufficient evidence to inform you that you are suspected of treason.”
At the end of May, the head of Kharkov’s SBU department, Roman Dudin, was also fired. “He did not work to protect the city from the early days of a full-scale war, but only thought of himself. Law enforcement officers will reveal their motives,” Zelensky said. In his words, “651 criminal proceedings have also been opened related to treason.” and cooperation by prosecutors, pre-trial investigators and other law enforcement agencies.”
The top Ukrainian leader also warned that “more than 60 officials from the prosecutor’s office and the SBU have remained in the occupied territory and have worked against our state.” “Such a series of crimes against the foundations of national security and the discovered links between the workers of the Ukrainian security forces and the special services of Russia raise very serious questions for the relevant leaders. Each of these questions will receive an adequate answer.” Zelensky warned on Sunday.
Another strange case, apparently linked to collaboration, was that of Ukrainian banker Denis Kireev, who was shot dead in early March while in custody. He was a member of the Ukrainian delegation in the failed talks with Russia to end the war and was accused of being a “double agent”. At the official level, it was assured that Kireev tried to flee, ignored the calls to give up his attitude and was shot.
Source: La Verdad
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