Zelensky Orders Purge of Security Department After Members Arrested For Alleged Assassination Plots

(Daily360.com) Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded that all members of the Department of State Protection be released and replaced following the revelation of a plot to assassinate Zelenskyy. Two officers within the protection service allegedly planned an assassination attempt on the president as well as other senior officials within the administration.

Zelenskyy appointed Colonel Oleksiy Morozov to be the new head of the department and said only individuals with loyalty to Ukraine will be placed within the department. He further stated that anyone who doesn’t choose Ukraine as their priority will be removed.

Zelenskyy had significant support following Russia’s invasion when 90% of Ukrainians believed he was doing a good job. The majority of citizens still support him as president, but only 70% of poll respondents believe Zelenskyy should remain president. An election should have happened on March 31, but the country has been under martial law since February, 2022. No elections can be held under martial law according to the laws of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy’s term officially ended on May 20 and thus his presidential authority is only granted under the terms of martial law. Zelenskyy announced on June 24 that he fired Lt. Gen. Yuri Sodol, a high-ranking commander of the Ukraine military. The president did not provide any reasons for the dismissal of the commander.

The move comes shortly after Bohdan Krotevych, head of the Azov regiment, published a letter that referred to an unnamed general. According to the letter, this general has caused the death of more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general.

Krotevych said all soldiers and generals in the military know who he is talking about. He said 99% of the military dislikes the unnamed general for the actions he takes.

This isn’t the first high-ranking position that has been replaced since the start of the war. In February, Zelenskyy replaced the military’s top commander Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, who was once popular for his actions to protect the country at the start of the conflict.