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Ukraine’s new leader urges parliament to boot prosecutor, security and defense chiefs

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky Pyotr Sivkov/TASS

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky

© Pyotr Sivkov/TASS

KIEV, May 20. /TASS/. Following his inauguration on Monday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky urged the national parliament (Verkhovna Rada) to dismiss Chief of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) Vasily Gritsak, Prosecutor-General Yuri Lutsenko and Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak within two months.

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"I request the dismissal of the head of the Ukrainian Security Council, the prosecutor general of Ukraine and the defense minister of Ukraine. You have two months to do this," he told the parliament.

Earlier on Monday, the SBU press office released a statement by Gritsak who said that he had tendered his resignation. The spy chief said all his subordinates and the agency’s "key figures" had followed suit. Later, the defense minister also decided to step down.

Lutsenko said in early May that he would not regret his dismissal but stressed that he considered this decision to be a mistake. He also pointed out that he had neither moral nor legal grounds to resign.

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