Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday sacked three regional governors, including the head of Luhansk region, Serhii Keidai, Reuters reported.
Serhii Gaidai was removed from the post of head of the Lugansk regionPhoto: David Goldman / AP / Profimedia
No reason was given for their dismissal, which was announced on the Telegram messaging app by the government’s representative in Parliament.
The governor of Luhansk region, Serhii Keitai, has often commented on the fighting in his region on Russia’s northeastern border. Ukrainian press, incl Ukrainian PravdaHe wrote that he would be appointed ambassador to Kazakhstan.
Ukrainska Pravda writes that rumors of Keidai’s removal have been in the public domain since January 2023.
Zelenski also sacked Maxim Marchenko, governor of the Odesa region, and Serhii Gamalii, head of the Khmelnytskyi regional administration in the west.
A wave of impeachment after corruption scandal
Zelensky, sensitive to Western allegations of widespread corruption in Ukrainian society, has fired several senior officials this year. Five regional governors were dismissed or left their posts.
Subsequently, all five district attorneys were dismissed.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, headed by Oleksii Reznikov, has been accused of buying food for the military at prices two to three times higher than in Kiev grocery stores.
Former deputy minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was sacked following corruption allegations and is currently in detention, has denied wrongdoing.
Shapovalov was accused of lobbying for inflated prices for food contracts for the military. According to the report, he is suspected of buying bulletproof vests, helmets and low-quality military clothing worth more than 1 billion ($27.2 million).
Marchenko was appointed head of the Odesa Regional State Administration in March 2022. He is a Colonel in the Armed Forces. In 2015-2017 Marchenko was the commander of the 24th separate assault battalion “Idar”, and then he led the 28th mechanized brigade.
Serhii Gamalii was appointed as the head of Hmelniţkî regional state administration on December 3, 2020. He came to this position from a business background in the transportation and restaurant business sectors. Before his appointment, he had never served in government agencies and was not actively involved in politics.
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