Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree dismissing Serhii Shefir from the post of the first assistant to the head of state. The document was published on the president’s website.
The President also dismissed three advisers – Mykhailo Radutsky, Serhii Trofimov and Oleh Ustenko – the commissioner for ensuring the rights of the military Alyona Verbytska and the commissioner for volunteer activities Natalia Pushkaryova. The decree does not specify what the resignations are related to.
Shefir is described as a personal friend and one of Zelensky’s “closest confidants”. They met back in the 1990s, when Zelensky played in the KVN team “Zaporizhzhia–Kryvyi Rih-transit”, and Shefir wrote jokes for it. Then Shefir worked in Zelensky’s studio “Kvartal-95”.
A few days ago, Zelensky fired Oleksii Danilov from the post of secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and appointed the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Oleksandr Litvinenko, in his place. Danilov held the post of secretary of the National Security and Defense Council since October 2019.
