MP Rakhmanin explains whether former SBU chief Bakanov could have worked for FSB
The ex-head of the SBU, Ivan Bakanov, was dismissed in July 2022 (Photo:SBU)
Serhiy Rakhmanin, a member of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, answered whether former SBU chief Ivan Bakanov could have worked for the FSB, in an interview with Radio NV on April 6.
Bakanov was dismissed in July 2022.
"If it were somehow proven that he was working for the FSB, he would probably be brought to criminal responsibility," Rakhmanin said.
“I am proceeding from a healthy life logic and the requirements of the law.”
"[Ukrainian] services have no problem with Bakanov in terms of the violation of criminal law,” Rakhmanin quoted Ukrainian law enforcement as saying.
"Bakanov was removed from the post of the head of the SBU, and an internal audit was conducted against him," he added.
“There is no information on the opening of criminal proceedings. As I understand it, the inspection revealed that he did not violate the law, and no ties to Russian special services were found. I don't know how correctly this check was conducted.”
Rakhmanin also noted that the evidence of the official inspection of Bakanov are classified.
"So why and who else, relatively speaking, besides the head of the Security Service or other officials, is involved in this?" the lawmaker said.
“Who will be held responsible for the fact that people whom the SBU itself accuses of working for the enemy have been hired by the Service? The question remains open.”
He noted that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had high trust in Bakanov and had no reason to believe "that he had put forward a person who did not fit the position, let alone work for an enemy special service."
"If we're talking about the head of the SBU, there is a criminal law that requires intent," Rakhmanin concluded.
“If, relatively speaking, the head of the SBU was misled, that's one story. If he deliberately chose to appoint a person who poses a threat to national security, this already entails criminal prosecution, including liability, in accordance with the current legislation, i.e., imprisonment. Obviously, the Security Service did not find any intent in Bakanov's actions. This is how I understand it.”
The investigation of the case of former head of the Main Department of the Security Service of Crimea, Oleh Kulinich, did not reveal any criminal violations by former SBU head Bakanov, SBI Communications Advisor Tetiana Sapyan said on April 5.
Earlier, NV reported, citing a source, that Bakanov is involved in criminal proceedings of the State Bureau of Investigation regarding the occupation of Ukraine's territories.
The former SBU chief was in Ukraine and that the internal investigation into his actions had been completed as of early February, Zelenskyy’s parliamentary representative, Fedir Venislavskyi, said in late March. Bakanov was dismissed in July 2022 with the wording "dereliction of duty that caused human casualties or other grave consequences”.
The SBU and the SBI released new evidence on April 5 of cooperation with the Russian FSB by detainee Kulinich and his overseer, former NSDC Deputy Secretary Volodymyr Sivkovych.
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