It is, according to the Washington Post*, of the biggest reorganization within the Ukrainian authorities since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decided on Sunday July 17 to suspend Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, as well as the head of Ukraine’s security services (SBU) Ivan Bakanov, due to suspicions of treason by some of their employees in the benefit of Moscow.
“President Zelensky thus shows that he is cleaning up his ranks”comments to franceinfo Carole Grimaud Potter, and founder of Center for Russia and Eastern Europe Research (CREER) in Geneva. What is reproached to Ivan Bakanov and Iryna Venediktova, “two people close to the president” as noted by specialist in Russia and post-Soviet spaces ? Franceinfo answers three questions about this sidelining, almost five months after the start of the war in Ukraine.
1Who are Iryna Venediktova and Ivan Bakanov, the two suspended officials?
As pointed out by Washington Post*, the attorney general relieved of her duties is a former adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, in charge of foreign affairs during his presidential campaign, according to Politico *, and also elected from his party. Iryna Venediktova, appointed Prosecutor General in 2020, is the first woman to hold this position. Some Ukrainians, specifies the American newspaper, criticize it for its lack of results in the fight against corruption. When she was appointed, the Ukrainian president warned that she would be replaced if her efforts to curb corruption did not produce enough results.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, she has been particularly well known for her role in the investigation of alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Ivan Bakanov, for his part, has known Volodymyr Zelensky since childhood. They worked together for an entertainment production company, before Ivan Bakanov supervised the presidential campaign of Volodymyr Zelensky, details Politico. This close friend of the Ukrainian president was appointed to the Ukrainian security services, which has around 30,000 agents, in 2019. Several critical voices had deemed him unfit to manage an organization of such importance.
2What does Volodymyr Zelensky accuse them of?
In a video broadcast on Telegram on Sunday evening, the Ukrainian leader announced that he had “made the decision to relieve the Attorney General of their duties”Iryna Venediktova, “and the head of the security services” Ivan Bakanov.
“To date, 651 criminal proceedings have been registered relating to treason and collaboration activities (with Russia) employees of prosecutors’ offices, preliminary investigation bodies and other law enforcement agencies”, continues the president. “In particular, more than 60 employees of the prosecutor’s office and security services of Ukraine remained in occupied territory (by Russian forces) and are working against our state”, he added.
“Such a large number of crimes against the foundations of national security and the links established between Ukrainian law enforcement officials and Russian special services raise very serious questions for the leaders concerned.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyduring a speech broadcast on Telegram on Sunday
“Each of these questions will be answered”, he assured. The shelving ofIvan Bakanov and Iryna Venediktova aims to acknowledge their lack of action to avoid these acts of “treason”, but also to prevent “their potential influence” in criminal proceedings against their employees, said Andriy Smyrnov, deputy chief of staff of Volodymyr Zelensky.
On Monday, the latter pointed out that suspending Ivan Bakanov and Iryna Venediktova did not imply, at this stage, their dismissals from these two posts, reports the Ukrainian press agency Ukrinform*. Rather, it is a first step, because “IPresident and all of us have been waiting long enough for the heads of these agencies to take more specific and, perhaps, drastic measures to weed out collaborators and state traitors.”
Checks and investigations will be carried out on the two officials concerned, said Andriy Smyrnov. Based on the findings of these surveys, “IThe President will make a decision on the need to table a motion in Parliament, to approve the dismissal of the Prosecutor General and the Head of Security Services of Ukraine”.
3What do we know about the reported cases of “treason”?
According to the Deputy Chief of Staff of the President of Ukraine, “collaborators (from the Russians)continue to be identified within these law enforcement agencies almost weekly.”
At the end of June, Politico* revealed that Volodymyr Zelensky and his entourage were already aiming to replace Ivan Bakanov, due to“chess” in terms of security since the beginning of the Russian offensive. The American media quoted, in its investigation, the case of Serhiy Kryvoruchko, head of the board of directors of the local branch of the SBU in Kherson: he is accused of having initiated the evacuation of his agents before the entry of the Russians into the city, and this against the orders of the Ukrainian president, underlines Politico.
His assistant, Colonel Ihor Sadokhin, is also suspected of having informed Russian troops about the presence of Ukrainian mines, and of having contributed to the development of a flight path for a Russian plane. He also fled with other SBU agents to the west. Another Ukrainian security service agent, Andriy Naumov, is also accused of having fled a few hours before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
For Ukrainian officials quoted by Politico, the rapid capture of Kherson by the Russian army on March 3 is also linked to the inability of the SBU to destroy the Antonovskiy bridge, thus allowing the advance of Russian forces in the city. “The Russian occupation of Kherson was carried out relatively peacefully. They (Ukrainian government) suspect that there was local help to facilitate the task of the Russians”, analyzes Carole Grimaud Potter. The researcher points to the good results of the pro-Russian party “Opposition Platform – For Life” in the southern region of Ukraine, in the local elections in 2020. “He positioned himself as a pro-peace party,” she adds. The specialist considers very likely the presence of supporters of this party within the local branch of the SBU.
*These links refer to articles in English.