Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suspended two top advisers amid widespread treason claims involving government workers accused of collaborating with Russian forces in occupied cities and towns.
Zelenskyy signed decrees Sunday removing from their positions Iryna Venediktova, the prosecutor general who has led Ukraine’s investigation into Russian war crimes, and Security Service chief and longtime Zelenskyy friend Ivan Bakanov. On Monday, Andrei Smirnov, deputy head of the president’s office, said the decrees were not dismissals, but suspensions so the advisers could not influence an investigation.
Zelenskyy on Monday signed a decree naming Bakanov’s first deputy, Vasyl Maliuk, as the acting head of the agency. Maluik has a reputation for fighting corruption. More than 60 employees of the prosecutor’s office and the Security Service in the occupied territory are working “against our state,” Zelneskyy said. More than 650 criminal proceedings have been started regarding treason and collaboration activities.
“Such an array of crimes … pose very serious questions to the relevant leadership,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “Each of these questions will receive a proper answer.”
Latest developments:
►U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet Monday with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska in Washington as Zelenska presses her husband’s campaign for more military support from the West.
►Sri Lanka’s interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe, citing food shortages and spiraling prices, warned that sanctions could do more damage to the developing world than to Russia.
►Odesa and Alexandria have joined a growing list of cities removing monuments related to Ukraine’s links to Russia. Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991.
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EU pledges another $500 million in military aid to Ukraine
European Union foreign ministers were meeting Monday via video teleconference to tighten sanctions on Russia and consider ways to ban gold exports “in hopes that the measures might finally start to have a decisive impact on the war in Ukraine.” The group was exchanging views on the Russian aggression with Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba – and pledged another $500 million in military aid to Ukraine’s coffers.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that “the most important thing is a ban on Russian gold” which is Moscow’s second-largest export industry after energy.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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