The Parliament of Ukraine approves the dismissals of the head of Intelligence and the attorney general

Zelensky replaces the heads of the Security Service of Ukraine in five regions

The Parliament of Ukraine has approved on Tuesday the dismissal of Ivan Bakanov as head of the Intelligence services, and of the Attorney General, Irina Venediktova, supporting the decisions adopted on Sunday by the country's president, Volodimir Zelenski, who during the day has also replaced the heads of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in five regions of the country.

According to information collected by the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform, the vote on Bakanov's dismissal resulted in 265 votes in favor and five abstentions, with no votes against. Shortly after, Venediktova's dismissal was also approved, as indicated by parliamentarian David Arajamia.

"The Verkhovna Rada has approved putting an end to Venediktova's powers as Ukraine's attorney general," Arajamia said in her account on the Telegram network, before noting that the woman "is still in the team" and that "her experience will be beneficial for the State in a new position".

On the other hand, Zelenski has appointed this Tuesday new heads of the SBU in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkov, Poltava, Sumy and Zakarpattia, according to a series of decrees published on the website of the Ukrainian Presidency, without for the moment having transcended the reasons for these decisions.

The Ukrainian president named Vasil Maliuk as the new head of the SBU on Monday, a day after the dismissal of Bakanov and Venediktov, amid accusations against employees of both agencies for alleged acts of treason. Maliuk has been appointed "on a temporary basis", without further details. Venediktova has been replaced by Oleksiy Simonenko.

Zelensky argued that around 60 staff members of the General Prosecutor's Office and the SBU "remained in the Russian-occupied territories and collaborated with the Russians." "Such a set of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state and the connections that have been recorded between the employees of the Ukrainian security forces and the special services of Russia raise very serious questions about their respective leaders," he settled.