Afraid being overthrown from within or really fighting corruption: Zelensky continues to dismiss officials on corruption charges

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday issued a decree sacking a top security official and said his efforts to purge the government were continuing.

The authorities have sacked dozens of officials in recent weeks and opened investigations as part of a wide-ranging crackdown on wrongdoing.

The European Union says tackling corruption is a requirement before Ukraine joins the 27-nation bloc.

The Ukrainian President dismissed the deputy commander of the National Guard, Ruslan Dzhuba.

This was announced according to a brief decree issued by the presidential office that didn’t give reasons for this decision.

Zelensky didn’t mention Dzhuba by name during his daily videotaped address.

Zelensky stressed the importance of purging the Ministry of Defense in particular.

Zelensky said he met with defense and law enforcement officials to discuss ways to protect the institutions from what he called attempts from outside or within to reduce their effectiveness and efficiency.

“All this activity isn’t only related to certain facts or criminal procedures,” he added referring to the purge.

“The state will continue to modernize the institutions themselves… The purity of the functioning of the organizational structures of the state must be ensured”.

Ukraine’s defense minister said on Thursday that hundreds of officials in the ministry or armed forces had been referred to disciplinary investigations over the past year after internal audits, and that he had zero tolerance for corruption.