President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky fired the Security Service chief Ivan Bakanov and Prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova.

The decision, which was announced in executive orders on the president’s website, came after dozens of cases of collaboration had been found in their agencies.

Zelenskiy said he had fired the top officials because many members of their agencies had collaborated with Russia.

He said 651 cases of alleged treason and collaboration cases had been opened against law enforcement officials, and more than 60 officials were collaborating with the enemy in Russia-occupied territories.

Later in the day, Zelensky’s officials sought to quell the speculation over the dismissal of Bakanov and Venediktova.

Deputy head of President’s office Andrii Smyrnov said on TV that the officials were not fired but ‘suspended’.

According to him, more specific and radical results were expected from the heads of these two offices. However, during the sixth month of the war, traitors are still being identified in both agencies.

Smyrnov added that Bakanov and Venediktova were suspended in order to prevent potential influence on the criminal proceedings being investigated against SBU officers and prosecutors.

Official inspections and investigations are currently being initiated in the SBU and Prosecutor General office. The president will decide on the dismissal according to their results.