KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky on Monday signed a decree appointing Vasyl Maliuk as acting head of the State Security Service (SBU), a day after suspending his predecessor over what the head of state called it a failure in the fight against betrayal within the agency.
Vasyl Maliuk, 39, was the first deputy head of the SBU since March 2020 and headed the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime of the Central Directorate of the SBU, according to his profile on the SBU website.
Volodimir Zelensky said on Sunday that Ivan Bakanov and Irina Venediktova had been removed from their respective posts as head of the SBU and general prosecutor because of dozens of cases of collaboration with Russia within their services.
The head of the internal security services and the Prosecutor General of Ukraine were only suspended and not officially dismissed by President Volodimir Zelensky, said Monday his deputy chief of staff, Andriy Smyrnov.
Andriy Smyrnov also declared on television on Monday that Irina Venediktova had been suspended and that Ivan Bakanov had been “temporarily relieved of his duties” while carrying out “checks and investigations”.
Asked if these two officials could return to their posts at the end of these investigations, he replied: “We live in a state of law and of course, I can consider that.”
Parliament also voted to accept the resignation of Social Policy Minister Maryna Lazebna on Monday. She did not explain the reason for her resignation, which she tendered last week.
Prime Minister Denys Chmygal issued a statement thanking her for her “effective” work in this role since March 2020.
He did not say who would replace her, but Yaroslav Zhelezniak, an opposition MP, said it was widely expected that Volodimir Zelensky would nominate a replacement from the presidential office.
(Report Max Hunder and Aleksandar Vasovic, French version Bertrand Boucey and Augustin Turpin, told by Kate Entringer)