Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy dismisses top security official

Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed a top security official and said the government clean-up drive will move forward. This comes as Ukraine is looking to meet the requirements to join the European Union.

On Saturday, according to the presidential office, Zelenskyy issued a decree of the dismissal of Ruslan Dzubia, a deputy commander of the Ukrainian National Guard. The order did not cite the reasons for Dzubia’s dismissal. Zelenskyy made no reference to Dzubia during his video address at the time but stressed the need for the Ukrainian defense ministry to be cleaned up.

Zelenskyy said he met with defense and law enforcement officials to discuss ways to protect Ukraine’s institutions from what he described as external or internal attempts to reduce the ministry’s effectiveness and efficiency.

“All this activity is not just about certain episodes or criminal proceedings…the state will continue to modernize the institutions themselves. The purity of the work of the state structures must be guaranteed,” said Zelenskyy.

Authorities in Ukraine have already dismissed dozens of officials in recent weeks, launching investigations as part of a widespread drive against corruption. The European Union said addressing corruption is a requirement for the country to join the bloc. Ukrainian defense minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Thursday that hundreds of officials in the ministry and in the armed forces have been disciplined in 2022 following the results of the internal audits.

Meanwhile, the United States told its citizens who are currently in Russia to leave the country immediately due to the ongoing war as well as the risk of facing arbitrary harassment or arrest by Russian law enforcement agencies. Washington has repeatedly warned Americans to leave Russia, the last such warning was made in September last year after Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization.

“US citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately,” said the US embassy in Moscow. “Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions. Do not travel to Russia.”

“Russian security services have arrested US citizens on spurious charges, singled out US citizens in Russia for detention and harassment, denied them fair and transparent treatment, and convicted them in secret trials or without presenting credible evidence,” said the embassy.