Yurii Shchyhol, head of Ukraine’s State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, speaks during an interview with Portal, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kiev, Ukraine September 22, 2023. Portal/Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey/File Photo Acquire Licensing rights
KYIV, Nov 20 (Portal) – Ukraine fired two senior cyber defense officials on Monday, a government official said, as prosecutors announced an investigation into suspected embezzlement in the government’s cyber security agency.
Yurii Shchyhol, head of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP), and his deputy, Viktor Zhora, have been fired by the government, senior Cabinet official Taras Melnychuk wrote on Telegram.
Melnychuk, the cabinet representative in parliament, did not give the reasons for the layoffs. Shchyhol wrote on Facebook that he was confident he could prove his innocence, Interfax Ukraine reported. There was no immediate comment from Zhora.
The SSSCIP is responsible for securing government communications and defending the state from cyberattacks.
News of the firings came less than an hour before anti-corruption prosecutors announced that they had filed charges against the head and deputy head of the SSSCIP for their alleged roles in a six-person conspiracy to embezzle 62 million Ukrainian hryvnias (1, 72 million US dollars) between 2020 and 2022.
Authorities suspect the officials of purchasing software at an inflated price from two companies allegedly under their control as part of a sale that had been closed to other bidders, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau said.
In a statement on Telegram, the SSSCIP said it was cooperating with investigators and that all procurement by authorities had been carried out legally.
Ukraine has increased its efforts to curb corruption as part of its membership of the European Union, making the fight against bribery an important prerequisite for starting negotiations.
Recent investigation targets have included a billionaire former patron of President Volodymyr Zelensky and the former chairman of Ukraine’s Supreme Court. Both have denied wrongdoing.
In September, Shchyhol told Portal that Russian spies were using hackers to attack law enforcement computer systems to identify and obtain evidence related to suspected Russian war crimes.
Reporting by Dan Peleschuk, editing by Bernadette Baum, Ed Osmond and Andrew Heavens
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