The Reason Zelensky Fired Head of Ukraine's Secret Service, Top Prosecutor

Zelensky fired his childhood friend - and the man who headed his political party before becoming chief of the secret service - not because the friend was a traitor but because he appeared incapable of rooting out the hundreds of employees in the agency who were working for Russia.

Intelligence failures have been a problem for Ukraine and Zelensky finally realized experience matters more than personal loyalty. It had to be a sad and difficult decision, but clearly one Zelensky viewed as crucial to winning the battle against Russia. JL 

Brett Forrest and Matthew Luxmoore report in the Wall Street Journal:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky removed Ukraine’s general prosecutor and the head of the Security Service of Ukraine amid allegations that their offices were riddled with officials who were collaborating with Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, has for years faced allegations that its ranks are infiltrated by Russian assets, claims bolstered by two recent high-profile arrests. 651 treason cases (were) registered concerning workers in Ukrainian law-enforcement and the prosecutor’s office. 60 employees of the SBU and prosecutor’s office were working for Russia in occupied areas of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky removed Ukraine’s general prosecutor and the head of the Security Service of Ukraine late Sunday amid allegations that their offices were riddled with officials who were collaborating with Russia.

While the dismissal of the prosecutor, Iryna Venediktova, surprised some analysts, the ouster of the security chief, Ivan Bakanov, had been forecast for some time. The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, has for years faced allegations that its ranks are infiltrated by Russian assets, claims bolstered by two recent high-profile arrests. The SBU is Ukraine’s main security and intelligence agency. It is separate from the GUR military-intelligence agency that plays the primary role in the war with Russia.

Posting on social media Sunday night, Mr. Zelensky said that 651 treason cases had been registered concerning workers in Ukrainian law-enforcement and the prosecutor’s office. He said that more than 60 employees of the SBU and prosecutor’s office were working for Russia in occupied areas of Ukraine.

“Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state and the connections that have been recorded between the employees of the security forces of Ukraine and the special services of Russia pose very serious questions to the relevant leaders,” Mr. Zelensky wrote. “Each of these questions will receive a proper answer.”Neither Mr. Bakanov nor Ms. Venediktova could be reached for comment.

Mr. Bakanov and Mr. Zelensky were childhood friends from their upbringing in the city of Kryvyi Rih and later established the production company behind the TV show, Servant of the People,” that brought Mr. Zelensky wide domestic popularity and smoothed his entry into politics. Mr. Bakanov later served as the head of Mr. Zelensky’s political party before taking over as SBU chief in August 2019.

In 2020, Mr. Zelensky, referring to Mr. Bakanov, said “there has never been such an honest head of the Security Service of Ukraine.”

On Sunday, Mr. Zelensky removed Mr. Bakanov under a military disciplinary code that cites “negligence in performing duties that caused loss of life or other grave consequences.”

Russia’s full-scale February invasion of Ukraine brought into sharp relief the activities of some high-ranking SBU officials and doubts about their allegiance.

On Saturday, Ukrainian authorities arrested Oleg Kulinich, the former head of the SBU’s Crimea department on suspicion of collaborating with the Russian security services.

In April, Mr. Zelensky fired SBU brigadier general Andriy Naumov, who had been in charge of internal security at the agency. Mr. Naumov was believed to have fled the country shortly before the war began. Last month, Serbian border guards detained Mr. Naumov as he attempted to cross into North Macedonia with a significant amount of cash and jewels.

In April, Mr. Zelensky removed the SBU chief in Kherson for failure to live up to his oath of allegiance and stripped him of general’s rank. At the time, Mr. Zelensky vowed that he would deal with a significant number of traitors. “They will all be punished,” he said. In May, Mr. Zelensky also removed the head of the SBU for the Kharkiv region.

The dismissals on Sunday came as Russian forces continued a campaign of airstrikes in eastern and southern Ukraine. A day earlier, Russia’s defense minister had ordered commanders to intensify military operations in a bid to prevent Ukrainian forces from carrying out attacks on Moscow-controlled cities in the east.

The Russian Defense Ministry’s TV channel, Zvezda, on Sunday shared footage that it said showed the aftermath of a Ukrainian strike late Saturday on a tram depot in Alchevsk, a town in the Luhansk region.

The Russian-backed Luhansk People’s Republic, which claims the entirety of the region, said Kyiv had used U.S.-supplied Himars systems to carry out the attack. The footage couldn’t be independently verified, and Kyiv didn’t immediately comment on the allegation.

Ukrainian news outlet Grunt cited witnesses reporting explosions near the tram depot, but said it had long been emptied of vehicles and had recently been a base for Russian troops.

The U.K.’s Defense Ministry on Sunday said Russia was reinforcing its positions across occupied areas in southern Ukraine, moving manpower, equipment and defensive stores between Mariupol and occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. It said Russian defensive moves were likely a response to the attacks Ukraine has launched against command posts, logistic nodes and troop concentrations, and to an anticipated Ukrainian offensive in the Kherson region.

“Given the pressures on Russian manpower, the reinforcement of the South while the fight for the Donbas continues likely indicates the seriousness with which Russian commanders view the threat,” the ministry said.

Ukraine has recently upgraded its ability to strike Russian command centers and ammunition dumps with Western-supplied long-range artillery.

In recent days, Russia has attacked civilian centers and buildings across the country, in what analysts say is an attempt to demoralize Ukraine and sour its appetite for war.

The supply of Western weapons, especially as Ukraine receives upgraded systems from the U.S. and elsewhere, remains vital to Kyiv’s ability to defend itself and is of no little concern for Moscow. Ukrainian military intelligence said Sunday that Russian military attachés located in embassies in European Union countries had received orders to recruit local police and civilians to track and frustrate the flow of weapons into Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Iran in a rare international trip aimed at signaling that the war in Ukraine hasn’t diminished Russia’s global standing. The trip also demonstrates the importance Mr. Putin places on maintaining the leverage Russia gained from years of military and diplomatic intervention in the Middle East.

It may also bolster Russia’s offensive capabilities amid a depletion of military hardware caused by its grinding offensive in Ukraine. In June and July, Russian officials visited Tehran to review the country’s attack-capable drones, according to U.S. intelligence, which has alleged Iran was preparing to provide Russia with drones for the battlefield in Ukraine, as well as training for its forces to use them. Tehran has told Kyiv it wouldn’t supply drones to Russia.

A preponderance of weapons and manpower remains fixed on the Donbas area in eastern Ukraine. Moscow has given priority to capturing it and said earlier this month that it had secured total control of Luhansk, which along with Donetsk comprises Donbas.

On Sunday, however, Serhiy Haidai, the head of the Luhansk military administration, said that two Luhansk villages remained in play. Ukrainian forces repulsed a Russian advance, but Russia continued to destroy homes with artillery fire. “They don’t care if there will be life in these settlements,” Mr. Haidai wrote on his Facebook page.

Continued Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk is occupying at least some of the attention that Russia has intended to focus on Donetsk, according to Ukrainian military officials.