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Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in video address (March 30)
Photo: Uncredited / dpa
Since the outbreak of the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has addressed his people and the rest of the world via video message almost every night - and sometimes even several times a night.
He usually reports on the successes of his own army, appeals to the West or describes the behavior of the Russian invaders.
In his current message, he addressed the continuing extremely tense situation in the south and east of his country.
And then Zelenskyj provided an unusual insight into the inner workings of the Ukrainian government apparatus: According to the president, he has fired two high-ranking members of the security service.
As he explained in the video, these are the overall head of internal security and the head of the branch of the agency in the Kherson region.
The president chose very clear words in his speech: "I don't have time to deal with all traitors, but they will all be punished one by one." The two men had broken their oath to defend Ukraine.
He did not give exact details.
With a view to the situation in the east and south of the country, the President and the General Staff also commented at night.
There are Russian attempts to set up an administration in the occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, the statement said.
Ukraine: no Russian land gains
Zelenskyy had already warned that Russia was planning a pseudo-referendum in the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson on the formation of a "people's republic" like in the eastern Ukrainian separatist areas.
It is unclear whether the regional official's dismissal is related to this development.
According to the General Staff in Kyiv, Russian units were not able to gain ground anywhere.
The eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv continued to be shelled, but a breakthrough attempt near the city of Izyum failed.
A Russian advance in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv was also unsuccessful.
In the north, some Russian units have withdrawn.
Moscow had announced that it would reduce the attacks on Kyiv and concentrate on the offensive in the Donbass coalfields in eastern Ukraine.
jok/Reuters
