Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has fired the country's two top security officers, branding them as traitors amid the war with Russia. He fired the officials last night and warned others of severe punishment if found involved in such activities.
The move is a rare example of dissent among the officials in Ukraine since the war began. The two men, who worked for the national security service, were accused of failing in their duty to ensure the security of the country.
Among the two, one is the chief of internal security while another was the head of the agency in the Kherson area.
Naumov Andriy Olehovych was the chief of the Main Department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) while Serhiy Oleksandrovych headed SBU in Kherson. Both have been stripped of their duties and labeled as anti-heroes.
No Time to Punish
Zelensky said that currently, he does not have the time to deal with traitors amid the catastrophic Russian war. However, he vowed that all traitors will be punished.
In a live address on social media, he said, "Now I do not have time to deal with all the traitors but gradually they will all be punished."
Zelensky also issued a wider warning to other officers, who have "not decided where their homeland is" and have violated Ukraine's oath of allegiance, will "inevitably be deprived of senior military ranks. Random generals don't belong here," reported Sky News.
It was the first time since the war began that Zelensky has announced sackings of top brass people over their involvement in the anti-Ukrainian activity.
The President also maintained that Ukrainian forces were able to push Russian troops back from Kyiv and Chernihiv as Kremlin this week had announced that these two cities would not be the focus of their attacks.
However, Zelensky also informed that the situation in the south and Donbas is extremely complex as Russian troops are now focusing on the separatist Donbas and Luhansk regions in the south-east.
