The Ukrainian government has dismissed the head of the cyber defense agency and his deputy, a government official said in a telegram on Monday. The personnel decision was made during an investigation by the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office.
“Yuriy Fedorovich Shchyhol has been dismissed from the post of head of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine,” Taras Melnychuk, the representative of the government in the parliament, said on the Telegram communication platform. According to him, Ščyhol’s deputy Viktor Žora was also relieved of his position.
Melnyčuk did not disclose the reasons for the appeal. However, Reuters and other media recalled that the dismissal coincides with the announcement by the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office that it is investigating senior officials of the office on suspicion of embezzling 62 million hryvnias (39 million CZK) in 2021 through the purchase of overpriced software. The prosecutor’s office did not disclose the names of those under investigation.
Ukraine has intensified its anti-corruption campaign in connection with its bid to join the European Union, which has made the fight against bribery a priority. The member states will discuss the possible start of accession talks with Ukraine at the December summit.
On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced that he had dismissed Tetyana Ostashchenko, the commander of the medical forces in the Ukrainian army. According to him, “fundamentally new levels of medical security for our soldiers” are needed. The daily Ukrainska pravda reported that the army medics themselves insisted on the dismissal of Ostashchenko, who was the first woman to head one of the types of troops in the armed forces of Ukraine.
Fighting corruption in Ukraine
