Resignation of Veterans Affairs minister, SBU surveillance of Bihus.Info, more F-16s from Netherlands: highlights
The Minister of Veterans Affairs Yulia Laputina has submitted a resignation letter. Bihus.Info said that the team was illegally surveilled by the Security Service of Ukraine — the SBU responded. The Netherlands will give Ukraine more F—16 fighters than planned. The minister of Emergency Situations of the LPR was liquidated in occupied Lysychansk. We have collected the main news for February 5.
Laputina's resignation
The Ukrainian parliament received a letter of resignation from Yulia Laputina, Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine. The document will be considered at the next plenary session of the legislature.
"With all due respect to the minister, this is a matter of management only. Ukraine needs strength, fresh energy, and adequate leadership in every area," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the resignation.
The SBU was monitoring Bihus.Info team
Bihus.Info project manager Denys Bihus said that the team was illegally surveilled by the Security Service of Ukraine, namely the Department for the Protection of National Statehood (DZND). The team managed to obtain footage from the cameras in the complex where the project team was staying, as well as to identify the names of the Department's employees involved.
For its part, the SBU claimed that Bihus.Info employees were buying drugs and opened a criminal investigation. Law enforcement also claims that it has made "appropriate personnel decisions" in the DZND.
F-16s from the Netherlands
The Netherlands will provide Ukraine with six more F-16 fighters than originally planned. Six jets that the country planned to sell to the international company Draken International will be added to the total of 18 aircraft.
Elimination of a "minister" from the occupied Luhansk Oblast
On February 3, the "Minister of Emergency Situations of the LPR" Aleksey Poteslehchenko was killed in a restaurant in occupied Lysychansk. The Kremlin correspondents wrote that local Russian puppet "officials" and security forces gathered there to celebrate.
The day before, the self-proclaimed "authorities" reported that the building had been shelled. The occupiers claim that 28 people, including a child, were killed in the attack.
Possible dismissal of Shaptala
According to Ukrainska Pravda's sources, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is considering replacing not only the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, but also the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Shaptala.
According to one of the publication's sources, all the events [regarding the replacement of Zaluzhnyi and Shaptala] may take place mid-week.
"Rebellion" of police officers who refuse to join the assault brigade
A video of a meeting of police officers in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, where they are discussing in high tones the alleged transfer of police special forces officers to the Interior Ministry's assault brigade "Rage," has been circulated on social media.
In particular, the video shows a police officer addressing his colleagues: "Are you part of the Defense Forces? Is a policeman making decisions - here I want to be, here I don't want to be? Will I protect here or not?"
In response, he was told to "lead by example." "How does this combat order concern us?"
The National Police promised to investigate all the circumstances and make appropriate decisions.
Former Defense Ministry official Liyev and the polygraph test
Oleksandr Liyev, former head of the Department of Military and Technical Policy, Development of Arms and Military Equipment of the Ministry of Defense, has undergone a "public polygraph" to prove his innocence. The former official is a defendant in the case of embezzlement of almost 1.5 billion hryvnias ($39.9 million) for the purchase of ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
He was asked seven questions, and failed on one of them – about instructions from his superiors.
Pre-trial restraint for Lviv Arsenal director
The High Anti-Corruption Court has imposed a pre-trial restrcition on the director of the Lviv Arsenal defense enterprise, Yuriy Zbitniev. He is suspected of embezzling almost 1.5 billion hryvnias ($39.9 million) in purchases of ammunition for the Armed Forces.
Zbitniev was placed under house arrest with a ban on leaving his home from 12 p.m. to 8 a.m. The prosecution requested a different measure of restraint – detention with the possibility of bail.
Other news
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted to the Rada bills to extend mobilization and martial law.
- In Kherson, a Russian shell killed two people in a car. Two more died in the street.
- In Kherson Oblast, foreign volunteers were banned from entering some dangerous areas.
- Vladyslav Manger and Oleksiy Levin, convicted in the murder of Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk, are appealing the verdict.
- Georgia announced the arrest of explosives that were allegedly being transported from Odesa to Russia's Voronezh "for terrorist attacks."
- HUR soldiers captured Wagner mercenaries in Sudan, according to KyivPost.