3 Sep, 2024 20:43
Zelensky purges Ukrainian ministers
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has initiated an apparent purge of senior officials, sacking the deputy head of his office on Tuesday and accepting resignation letters from three ministers, as well as the country’s deputy prime minister.
Zelensky’s deputy head of office, Rostislav Shurma, was fired on Tuesday, according to a decree posted on the office’s website. No reason was given for his dismissal.
Writing on Facebook shortly afterwards, the speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said that Vice Prime Minister for European Integration Olga Stefanishina, Minister for Strategic Industries Aleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Justice Denis Maliuski, and Minister of Environmental Protection Ruslan Strilets had all handed in resignation letters.
Zelensky is also considering firing Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba and multiple other officials, Ukrainian media reported, citing anonymous sources.
Since the conflict with Russia began in 2022, Zelensky has periodically purged senior military and political officials. The former commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valery Zaluzhny, was fired earlier this year after Ukraine lost – according to Russia – roughly 160,000 men in last summer’s disastrous counteroffensive.
Last September, Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov was sacked over his alleged role in major corruption scandals that was believed to have hindered the offensive.
In a more recent round of firings, Zelensky sacked several senior officials described by the Washington Post as “reformists…who appeared especially close to Washington.”
Typically, these purges have been preceded by harsh losses on the battlefield. In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s firings, Ukraine’s cross-border offensive into Russia’s Kursk Region ground to a halt with the loss of more than 9,300 troops and nearly 750 armored vehicles, according to the latest figures from the Russian Defense Ministry.
With Ukraine’s most battle-hardened troops diverted to shore up the flagging Kursk offensive, Russian forces have made rapid gains in Donbass, with the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk now within reach of Moscow’s troops.
According to a report by the Financial Times last week, Zelensky’s own soldiers, lawmakers, and military analysts blame him for the rapidly deteriorating situation in Donbass.
