President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the heads of departments of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in three regions: in Kyiv and the region, in Lviv and Ternopil regions. The decrees were published on the government website on August 15.
The document informs about the dismissal of Sergei Zayats from the post of head of the main department of the SBU in Kyiv and the Kyiv region. Also, a decree was published on the appointment of Artem Bondarenko to this position, whom Zelensky dismissed by another decree from the post of head of the SBU department in the Lviv region.
Zelensky also dismissed Yuriy Boreychuk from the post of head of the SBU department in the Ternopil region.
In mid-June, the State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine stated that Andrey Naumov, the former head of the Main Internal Security Directorate of the SBU, could collect and transfer secret data about the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to Russia. In August, the SBU reported that a former deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate had been arrested in Ukraine on suspicion of treason. The name of the major general was not called, it is known that he held a position in the Main Intelligence Directorate from 2008 to 2010, and he was detained at the beginning of the war. In total, during the war, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies detained more than 1,600 people, probably involved in sabotage activities.
Before that, Zelensky announced the possible dismissal of 28 employees of the SBU.
On July 17, the President of Ukraine removed the head of the SBU, Ivan Bakanov, as well as the country's Prosecutor General, Irina Venediktova, from office. Zelensky commented on the dismissal of Bakanov with a report on cases of treason and "collaborative activities of employees of the prosecutor's office, pre-trial investigation bodies, and other law enforcement agencies." He also noted that more than 60 employees of the bodies and the SBU remained in the occupied territory and are working against Ukraine. On July 18, the president submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft resolution on the dismissal of Bakanov.