Kyiv [Ukraine], May 10: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the head of the State Protection Department after two officers of this force were arrested in an assassination plot.
AFP on May 10 reported that President Zelensky issued a decree dismissing Mr. Sergiy Leonidovich Rud from the position of head of the State Protection Department of Ukraine , the agency in charge of security for the leader, senior officials and their families. .
The announcement did not specify the reason Mr. Rud was dismissed or the identity of the person who will replace him for this very sensitive position. However, the decision was announced after the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on May 7 that it had foiled a plot to assassinate President Zelensky and other senior officials.
SBU said it had arrested two colonel officers from the State Protection Department suspected of passing classified information to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). One of the two personally supplied rockets, drones and mines to an agent to carry out attacks.
President Zelensky said last year that he knew of at least 5-6 assassination plots against him that had been prevented. Mr. Rud (47 years old) has led the State Protection Department since 2019.
Also on May 9, Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court ordered the arrest of Deputy Minister of Agriculture Markiian Dmytrasevych, one of the suspects in the embezzlement case involving Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi. Mr. Dmytrasevych left Ukraine on April 12 and then returned to the country at the end of April, after authorities issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Solskyi.
According to The Kyiv Independent , the deputy minister was detained until July 7 with the amount of money he had to pay if he wanted to be released on bail of 20.3 million Hryvnia (about 13 billion VND).
Minister Solskyi was suspected of violating regulations on state-owned land and the court ordered his arrest on April 26. The court ordered temporary detention until June 24, but Mr. Solskyi paid bail on the day of his arrest. The Ministry of Agriculture of Ukraine announced that Mr. Solskyi has returned to work despite reports of his resignation.
The above information took place at the same time as the recent major personnel reshuffle in Ukraine's government apparatus.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
