RIGHT NOW: Zelensky fired the security chief The country's public prosecutor is also allowed to go

Emma Håkansson  

21.26 

Zelenskyj fires security chief and public prosecutor Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has fired security chief Ivan Bakanov and public prosecutor Iryna Venediktova, they write on the government's website.  

Oleksij Simonenka takes over as public prosecutor. It is not known who will take over as head of the Ukrainian security service. 

According to Euromaidan , Bakanov was fired under Article 47 of the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which states: "Failure (improper performance) of official duties, which resulted in human victims or other serious consequences or created a threat of such consequences." 

At present, there are no details about Venice's departure.

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TT

Amanda Hällsten

PUBLISHED: YESTERDAY 23.24

UPDATED: LESS THAN 10 MIN THEN

NEWS

A Ukrainian transport plane filled with weapons and mines crashed late Saturday night in northern Greece.

Eyewitnesses say the plane caught fire before it crashed and that explosions were heard long after the crash.

All eight people on board died.

 

Flames rose from the site where a transport plane crashed in northern Greece late on Saturday night.

Photo: Ilias Kotsireas / InTime News via AP / TT

The accident happened a few miles west of the city of Kavala in the region of Macedonia. The pilot had requested an emergency landing at Kavala airport, but did not make it all the way, according to the country's aviation authority.

The plane crashed a couple of kilometers from the nearest residential building. Witness Giorgos Archontopoulos says he immediately understood something was wrong when he heard the plane.

- At 22.45 I suddenly heard the engine noise from an airplane. I went out and saw that the engine was on fire, he tells the state TV channel ERT.

During the night and morning, there was no official information on how many people were on board, but ERT then reported that eight people were on the plane.

Firefighters work near the crash site during the night.

Photo: Ilias Kotsireas / InTime News via AP / TT

Antonov plan

The rescue service was sent to the scene, but could not begin firefighting due to explosions, according to local authorities.

"We heard explosions just a few minutes ago," Filippos Anastasiadis, mayor of the nearby city of Paggaio, told the Associated Press two hours after the crash.

The plane was a Soviet-built Antonov An-12 and was flown by the Ukrainian-based freight company Meridian, according to the authorities, and the explosions sparked speculation that explosives were on board.

- For your safety, you must leave here, reporters were warned by a firefighter at the crash site.

Large area cordoned off

Residents in the area have been urged to keep their windows closed and wear mouth guards outdoors.

Greek media report that twelve tonnes of dangerous goods, mostly explosives, were in the plane, but no official information has been received about the cargo.

During the night, a radius of 400 meters from the crash site was cordoned off, but it will be extended at dawn, according to the rescue service. During the morning, bomb experts and representatives from the Greek Atomic Energy Commission are expected to the scene of the accident, reports ERT.

All dead

The plane was on its way from Serbia to Jordan when it went down.

Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic confirms that eight people have died.

The Minister of Defense also confirms that the plane contained 11 tonnes of weapons, some of which were mines. The final destination for the delivery must have been Bangladesh.

- It was light grenades and training mines. This flight had all the necessary permits in accordance with international rules, he says.