Ukraine has replaced the head of its National Security and Defense Council amid stepped-up strikes by Russia following last week’s terrorist attack in Moscow that left scores of Russian concertgoers dead.
On the evening of March 26, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the dismissal of Oleksiy Danilov, who had headed the council since 2019.
Speaking in a nightly video address, the Ukrainian leader said Mr. Danilov would be tasked with “new responsibilities” to be made public at a later date.
Answerable to the president, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council is made up of the country’s top political, security, and defense officials.
According to Mr. Zelenskyy, Mr. Danilov will be replaced by Oleksandr Lytvynenko—the outgoing head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service, about whom little is publicly known.
In turn, Oleh Ivashchenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, will replace Mr. Lytvynenko as foreign intelligence chief, according to a decree issued by Mr. Zelenskyy’s office.
The Ukrainian leader offered no reason for the shake-up, which he said was aimed at enhancing Kyiv’s ability to “forecast and influence the processes upon which our national security depends.”
“The strengthening of Ukraine and the renewal of our state system in all sectors will continue,” he said in his video address.
It was the second high-level reshuffle of Ukraine’s defense establishment in as many months.
In February, the head of the Ukrainian armed forces was abruptly replaced, along with several other leading military officials.
Russian forces invaded eastern Ukraine in February 2022.
Seven months later, Moscow effectively annexed four regions in the country’s east and now considers them Russian Federation territory.
Backed by powerful Western allies, Kyiv has vowed to continue fighting until all lost territories are recovered.
Fresh Wave of Missiles
The shake-up among top Ukrainian defense officials comes amid a fresh wave of Russian attacks on targets across the country, including several in Kyiv.On March 27, Russia carried out two air strikes on a residential area in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv, killing one person and injuring a dozen others, according to local officials.
In a social media post, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov described the Russian strikes as “another act of bloody terror against Ukrainians.”
Two days earlier, Russian missiles partially destroyed a three-story building in central Kyiv, injuring at least 10 people across the city, according to local officials.
On the same day, Bridget Brink, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, said Russia had used hypersonic missiles to strike multiple targets in the Ukrainian capital.
“Over the last five days, Russia has launched hundreds of missiles and drones against a sovereign country,” the diplomat said.
Moscow, for its part, refrained from commenting on the strikes but typically denies targeting civilians.
The stepped-up Russian strikes come in the wake of a March 23 terrorist attack in Moscow, in which 140 people were killed and scores more injured.
Carried out by at least four gunmen, the shooting attack was Russia’s deadliest terrorist incident in two decades.
According to Russian authorities, 11 men—including several Tajik nationals—have since been detained in connection with the attack.
US Rebuts Claims
Several leading Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have strongly hinted at Kyiv’s involvement in the deadly incident.In televised remarks delivered soon afterward, Mr. Putin vowed to “identify and punish everyone ... who prepared this atrocity.”
He went on to allege that the perpetrators had been trying to escape to Ukraine when they were detained in the hours after the attack.
“According to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them [the attackers] from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” Mr. Putin claimed without providing evidence for the assertion.
Kyiv, for its part, has vehemently denied any role in the incident.
The United States claims to have intelligence implicating a branch of the ISIS terrorist group in the Moscow attack.
Earlier this week, France joined the United States in claiming to have intelligence indicating that the attack had been perpetrated by ISIS.
The notorious terrorist group has itself claimed responsibility—via its Amaq News Agency—and released video footage purporting to show the attack in progress.
Nevertheless, Russia’s Foreign Ministry has accused Washington of trying to “cover up” its own involvement—and that of Kyiv—by blaming ISIS for the deadly incident.
On March 25, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that Washington sought to “cover itself and its proxy ... by resorting to the ISIS bogeyman.”
She doubled down on the claims two days later, saying that it was “extremely hard to believe” that ISIS—or its affiliates—had the resources to execute such a sophisticated attack.
When asked about Ms. Zakharova’s assertions, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told the Epoch Times: “ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack.
“As we said in a [previous] statement, we strongly condemn ISIS’s deadly terrorist attack in Moscow.
“We condemn terrorism in all its forms and extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected.”
