Amid Russia shelling, Ukraine aims to strengthen government

With Russian shelling across the country showing no signs of easing, Ukraine’s leaders on Monday looked to strengthen their own ranks after President Volodymyr Zelensky removed two senior officials over allegations they hadn’t cleared their agencies of “collaborators and traitors”.

Internal investigations were to be launched after Ivan Bakanov, the head of Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, were dismissed. Acting heads of the two agencies have been appointed.

Zelensky cited hundreds of criminal proceedings into treason and collaboration by people within those departments and other law enforcement agencies.

“Six months into the war, we continue to uncover loads of these people in each of these agencies,” Andriy Smirnov, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said on Monday.

Analysts said the move is designed to strengthen Zelensky’s control over the army and security agencies, which have been led by people appointed before the Russian invasion began on February 24. Zelensky “needs an effective Prosecutor (General’s) office, and (an effective) SBU” agency, Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst with the Penta Center think tank, said.

“In the conditions of a war, Zelensky needs leaders that are capable of tackling several tasks at the same time — to resist Russia’s intrigues within the country to create a fifth column, to be in contact and coordination with international experts, to do their actual job effectively,” Fesenko said.

Bakanov is a childhood friend and former business partner of Zelensky, who appointed him to head the SBU. Bakanov had come under growing criticism over security breaches since the war began.

Venediktova won international praise for her drive to gather war-crimes evidence against Russian military commanders and officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, over the destruction of Ukrainian cities and the killing of civilians. The 43-year-old former law professor opened thousands of criminal investigations and identified hundreds of suspects, interviewing victims while coordinating efforts with foreign donors and officials.

After appointing an acting chief prosecutor on Sunday, Zelensky signed a decree on Monday naming the first deputy head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, as acting head. Maliuk, 39, is known for efforts to fight corruption in the security agencies; his appointment was seen as part of Zelensky’s efforts to get rid of pro-Russian staffers in the SBU.

“Maliuk was fighting corruption within the SBU, so (he) has compromising materials on many staff members and can control the personnel, many of whom are looking in the direction of Russia,” political analyst Vadym Karasiov, head of the Global Strategies Institute, said.

Fesenko added that discontent with the two officials has been brewing for a while, and it was possible that Ukraine’s Western partners pointed out the underperformance of the SBU and the prosecutor general’s office to Zelensky.

Meanwhile, Russia pressed forward with its missile and shelling attacks, which Ukrainian officials said were designed to intimidate the civilian population and create panic. Ukraine’s presidential office said seven Ukrainian regions had suffered from attacks in the previous 24 hours.

Ukraine’s Emergency Service said at least six people were killed by Russian shelling Monday targeting the city of Toretsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Toretsk was taken briefly in the Russian invasion of 2014, but Ukrainian forces ended up taking the city back.

Putin said on Monday that he was dedicated to improving the living standards for Russians during the military operation in Ukraine.