The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced on Sunday that during his visit to the Kharkiv region he dismissed the head of the regional structures of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The reason was his inactivity in the first days of Russia’s invasion.

“I came, realized the situation, and fired the head of the regional SBU for the fact that he had not acted to defend the city from the first days of the war, but only thought about himself,” Zelenskyy informed. The Ukrainian president spoke in a video released on Sunday night.

The dismissed head of the SBU in the Kharkiv region is Roman Dudin, explained to the Ukrainian Pravda portal.

Zelenskyy assured that the authorities of the Kharkiv region and the main city of the region – Kharkiv, proved their effectiveness in the first days of the invasion. He assessed that “the army, the police, the mayor of Kharkiv, and the oblast administration are working towards the victory.” He informed that a third of Kharkiv Oblast was still occupied by Russian troops.

Zelenskyy met on Sunday with the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, and the head of the district, Oleh Syniehubov. He also visited the positions of Ukrainian troops at the front.

Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of nearly 1.5 million before the Russian invasion. It is located only about 40 km from the border with Russia.

President Zelenskyy went to Kharkiv

In Kharkiv, the president also presented decorations to Ukrainian soldiers.

“The leading positions of our army. I feel immense pride in our defenders. Every day they risk their lives for freedom for Ukraine. Thank you for your service!” – he wrote on Instagram.

This is not the first time that the president of Ukraine has visited the front lines. The visit to Bucza was symbolic, but Zelenskyy wanted to see what the hostilities looked like at the beginning of March. Then he left the palace with two friends and a group of security guards terrified by his idea. In the suburbs of Kyiv, very close to Russian positions, he watched the devastation and talked to soldiers. They were not accompanied by cameras, and some of the president’s associates did not find out about this trip until a few weeks later.