Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy sacks spy chief and top prosecutor

Biggest political dismissals since Russia invaded on February 24

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. AP

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday fired the head of Ukraine's powerful domestic security agency and the state prosecutor general, because of what he called dozens of cases of collaboration with Russia by officials in their agencies.

The sackings of SBU chief Ivan Bakanov, a childhood friend of Mr Zelenskyy, and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, who has played a key role in the prosecution of Russian war crimes, were announced in executive orders on the president's website.

They are easily the biggest political sackings since Russia invaded on February 24, forcing the entire Ukrainian state to focus on the war effort.

In a post on Telegram, Mr Zelenskyy said he fired the officials because it had come to light that many members of their agencies had collaborated with Russia, a problem he said touched other agencies as well.

He said 651 cases of alleged treason and collaboration had been opened against prosecutorial and law enforcement officials, and that more than 60 officials from Mr Bakanov and Ms Venediktova's agencies were now working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied territories.

The sheer number of treason cases lays bare the huge challenge of Russian infiltration faced by Ukraine as it battles in what it says is a fight for survival.

"Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state … pose very serious questions to the relevant leaders," Mr Zelenskyy said.

"Each of these questions will receive a proper answer."

An elderly couple stands near a damaged school in the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. EPA

At least one person was killed after shelling hit the school, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service said. EPA

A woman walks past a destroyed market near a railway station in Donetsk. Reuters

Municipal workers clean a street in Donetsk. Reuters

A man passes destroyed buildings in the Ukrainian town of Siversk. AFP

A destroyed school in Siversk. AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman passes by destroyed buildings in Siversk. AFP

A woman's home is repaired by volunteers after being destroyed by shelling in the village of Zalissya. AFP

People fill up water canisters in Mykolaiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

Grain fields burn on the outskirts of Kurakhove, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. AP Photo

The mother of Ukrainian serviceman Abdulkarim Gulamov, who was killed in a fight against Russian troops in Kherson, attends his funeral in Kyiv. Reuters

People carry pictures of Mr Gulamov at the funeral. Reuters

Ukrainian service members fire a shell from a M777 Howitzer in Kharkiv. Reuters

A man walks in front of a damaged school after a missile strike hit the city of Kramatorsk. EPA

A cyclist rides past burnt cars after a Russian rocket strike in Kharkiv. AFP

Rescuers and servicemen work at a school building damaged by a Russian military strike in Kramatorsk. Reuters

Sasha, 12, a refugee from Ukraine at the humanitarian aid centre set up at the Global Expo exhibition hall in Warsaw, Poland. AFP

Maksym and Andrii, 11-year-old boys, play with plastic guns at a self-made checkpoint along a motorway in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian soldier nicknamed 'Oakland' guards his position at the front line in the Kharkiv region. AP

Ukrainians look at destroyed Russian military equipment at an outdoor exhibition near the Church of the Three Saints in Kyiv. AFP

A member of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) militia sits in a makeshift bunker near Avdiivka, in the Donbas region of Ukraine. EPA

A DPR militia member monitors a section of the road near Avdiivka. EPA

Ukrainians pass a heavily damaged shopping mall in the city of Kherson. AFP

The rubble of a house in Moshchun village, about 20 kilometres outside Kyiv. EPA

A resident helps a firefighter put out a fire after an air strike in the town of Bakhmut, in the breakaway enclave of Donetsk. AFP

A woman surveys the devastation caused by an air strike in Bakhmut. AFP

Part of a projectile fire by a rocket launcher lies embedded in a wheat field in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. AFP

Members of the public look at a Ukrainian tank destroyed in a Russian attack, in Hostomel, north-west of Kyiv. EPA

Burnt out cars destroyed in Russian attacks are piled up in Hostomel. EPA

Jill Biden, US first lady, left, and US President Joe Biden welcome the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, to the White House. EPA

Miami District Two commissioner Ken Russell, left, and Miami police chief Manuel Morales with weapons collected in the Guns 4 Ukraine initiative, at Miami City Hall in Florida. Guns bought back by Miami will be delivered to sister city Irpin, near Kyiv. EPA

A Ukrainian serviceman stands next to a Grad BM-21 multiple rocket launcher at the front line in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. AFP

A woman walks her dog in front of a block of flats hit by shelling in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. EPA

A Kramatorsk resident peers out of a window lined with tape to reduce the impact of shattering glass. EPA

The damaged windows of an apartment, after shells hit a residential area in Kramatorsk. EPA

Rescuers working on a residential building partially destroyed by missile strike in Bashtanka, Mykolaiv as the Russian war in Ukraine continues. AFP

An Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicle lies by the roadside, having been destroyed by Russian forces in Ukraine. AFP

Russian troops have captured large areas of Ukraine's south and east during an invasion that has killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed cities.

It remains unclear how the southern, Russian-occupied region of Kherson fell so quickly, in contrast to the fierce resistance around Kyiv that forced Russia to withdraw and focus on capturing the industrial Donbas heartland in the east.

In his nightly speech to the nation, Mr Zelenskyy noted the recent arrest on suspicion of treason of the SBU's former head overseeing the region of Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 that Kyiv and the West still view as Ukrainian land.

Mr Zelenskyy said he had fired the top security official at the start of the invasion, a decision he said was now shown as justified.

"Sufficient evidence has been collected to report this person on suspicion of treason. All his criminal activities are documented," he said.

Mr Bakanov was appointed to lead the SBU in 2019, one of an array of new faces who rose to prominence after Mr Zelenskyy, a former comedian, won election that year.

Mr Zelenskyy appointed Oleksiy Symonenko as the new prosecutor general in another executive order published on his site.