President of Ukraine fired prosecutor general and head of security for alleged treason

The orders were published on the official website of the presidency in the evening hours of this July 17, with them Iván Bakanov, a childhood friend of Zelenski, was formally dismissed as head of the SBU and the attorney general Irina Venediktova, who in recent weeks he had devoted his efforts to promoting Russian war crimes trials on Ukrainian territory.

Zelenski reported that at the moment there are 651 files open against officials of the Public Ministry for treason and collaboration with Russia, he also assured that more than 60 uniformed personnel who belonged to the Bakanov and Venediktova agencies are currently working as allies of the Russians in the occupied territories.

“Such a set of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state poses very serious questions to the relevant leaders. Each of these questions will receive an adequate answer,” the president said.

For now there is no statement on the person who will take over the country’s internal security agency, however, Zelenski did announce that from now on Oleksi Simonenko will be the new attorney general of Ukraine.

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Russian attacks this Sunday

Meanwhile, Kharkiv was the victim of two attacks by Russian forces. According to statements by the regional governor, Oleg Sinegoubov, a five-story industrial building caught fire “resulting in a 59-year-old woman injured, who is currently hospitalized.”

Mikolaiv was also targeted by the invading forces, several villages were affected there. According to the local governor, Vitaliy Kim, three people were killed and three others were injured in Shevchenkove.

“At around 3:05 am, Mykolaiv was hit by heavy shelling. We are aware of a fire at two industrial enterprises,” Kim said.

The head of the press center, Natalia Humeniuk, in statements to local television, also stated that the attack was “massive and it is most likely that the S-300 was used again, that is, a powerful, explosive weapon with the highest destructive capacity, the one that does the maximum damage”.

They also reported that during the night of Saturday a woman died after a bombing in Chyrokiv, against a residential building that was destroyed.

Meanwhile, in the Donetsk region, in eastern Ukraine, the siege in the Donbass basin continues “the Russians continue to bomb civilian infrastructure, especially educational institutions,” denounced the region’s governor, Pavlo Kirilenko.

Kirilenko reported on the impact of three missiles in the community of Toretsk. According to the leader “one fell in a residential area, two in Zalizne, where a school and a kindergarten were damaged. In Konstantinovka, the Russians bombed a medical college. There is no information about victims for now, ”he pointed out.

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For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that they shot down a Ukrainian MI-17 helicopter in the vicinity of the city of Sloviansk and an SU-25 plane in the Kharkiv region. In addition, they destroyed weapons that they claimed were provided to Ukraine by NATO countries, which were located in an anti-ship missile depot in the Odessa industrial zone.

Russia threatens increasingly frequent counter-attacks after the arrival of Western weapons and a “final judgment” if kyiv attacks Crimea, this in the face of Ukraine’s determination to maintain its positions in the east of the country and retake territories to the south in the wait of more help.

“The consequences of an attack on the peninsula are obvious. If something similar happens, the day of reckoning will soon come for all of them. It will be very fast and very hard,” said the vice president of the Security Council and former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, who also added that the Russian objectives “will be met.”

On the other hand, the British Ministry of Defense said on July 17 that Russia is reinforcing its defensive positions in southern Ukraine, mobilizing manpower and equipment, between Mariupol, Zaporizhia and Kherson, and has also been increasing security measures in Melitopol. .

“Enough deaths”

This Sunday approximately 2,000 Russian and Ukrainian citizens held a demonstration in front of the Russian embassy in Warsaw with the slogan “enough deaths”.

During the protest, the attendees expressed that it is necessary for Russia to be declared a “terrorist state” in addition to the request that President Volodímir Zelenski has been making for several weeks.

For now there is no exact figure on the total number of civilians who have died in the midst of the conflict, which will be six months old on July 24.

So far the UN has confirmed 5,000 deaths, of which 300 are children, however it warns that the figure is much higher.

In the southeast, in the city of Mariupol, the authorities report approximately 20,000 deaths, while in the military area there are between 15,000 and 20,000 dead Russian soldiers and 10,000 Ukrainians.

Discussions about the conflict continue

Next Monday, the foreign ministers of the European Union are expected to discuss the latest package of sanctions presented by Brussels, to add new personalities to the sanctioned list, cover some points that were left out in previous rounds and to veto imports. of Russian gold, actions that are expected to be implemented throughout the week.

This after the G20 summit in Indonesia ended without a consensus on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. “We know that every country has a position that cannot be reconciled, and they want to express it, particularly on the war in Ukraine,” said Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

At the last meeting of the G20 finance chiefs in April in Washington, not only was a joint statement not reached, the European Union, the United States and other countries left the meeting to express their rejection of the presence of Russia, on this occasion all countries participated, virtually or in person, including the Ukrainian delegation that was invited by Indonesia.

With information from Reuters, EFE and AFP.