Ukraine's Zelensky sacks senior security staff amid Donbass stalemate

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday announced that he had sacked senior security officers in charge of the Kyib, Ternopil, and Lviv regions.

Ukrainian media outlet Bykvu reported on the firings, which correspondent to some of Ukraine's most strategic western cities.

Kyiv, the capital city, alongside the prominent western population centers have been under heavy aerial attack since the war began, though Kyiv has not faced a credible attempt to capture it since the Russians pulled back from their original effort early in the war.

Ground forces loyal to Moscow have not entered the Lviv or Ternopil regions since the war began.

Zelensky's latest round of firings comes on the heels of his removal of top security officials in late July when he removed Security Service chief Ivan Bakanov and Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova. Zelensky at the time noted that the government had opened more than 650 treason trials against prosecutors in Venediktova's office and that at least 60 were actively cooperating with the Russian occupation forces.

"Such an array of crimes against the foundations of the national security of the state ... pose very serious questions [about] the relevant leadership," Zelensky wrote. "Each of these questions will receive a proper answer."