Ukraine’s intelligence network was awaiting its new boss on Monday, a day after the old boss – a childhood friend of President Volodymyr Zelensky – got the boot, transmits news agency MIA.
Ivan Bakanov lost his job on Sunday, officially because of reports that so many members of the intelligence community have defected to work for Russian and Russian-backed invaders in the country’s south, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, now almost five months old.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova lost her job for the same official reason on Sunday. But a lot of Ukrainian media is reporting that the real reason for Bakanov’s dismissal is his lack of background in intelligence, which has left him struggling for authority among his staff.
Bakanov ran a television station before joining his friend Zelensky’s presidential campaign and then getting the job as head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
His replacement, Vasyl Hrytsak, reportedly was critical to the recent arrest of a former high-ranking SBU official who stands accused of high treason for feeding information to Russia amid the invasion. Hrytsak was Bakanov’s deputy and is now interim head of the SBU, according to a presidential decree issued on Monday.
Hrytsak studied law at an SBU academy and has played a key role in its anti-corruption unit.
