KYIV (Reuters) – Two top officials removed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have been suspended pending investigations but have not been formally dismissed, a senior presidential aide said on Monday.
Zelenskiy said on Sunday Ivan Bakanov had been removed as head of the SBU domestic security agency and Iryna Venediktova had been removed as prosecutor general, citing dozens of cases of collaboration with Russia by officials in their agencies.
Andriy Smyrnov, deputy head of the presidential office, told Ukrainian television that Venediktova had been suspended and Bakanov had been “temporarily removed from fulfilling his duties” while “checks and investigations” are carried out.
Asked whether the two officials could return to their jobs if the investigations exonerate them, he said: “We live in a law-abiding country, and of course I can conceive of (the possibility of) this.”
(Reporting by Max Hunder and Aleksandar Vasovic, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
