Ukraine's Ambassador to Belarus Yezhel dismissed

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko dismissed Ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus Mykhailo Yezhel.

Relevant decree No.262 was signed on May 11, according to a press release on the Ukrainian president's website.

“Mykhailo Yezhel has been relieved of his duties as Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus,” it reads.

Mykhailo Yezhel was appointed ambassador to Belarus by previous president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych on April 3, 2013. He had earlier worked as Ukraine's defence minister and commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Navy.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine declared him a suspect in August 2014 in connection with criminal cases related to the destruction of the Ukrainian army logistics.

Mykhailo Yezhel was called for a questioning in Kyiv, but the Ukrainian authorities were informed that Yezhel had been in a military hospital in Minsk since August 2014 and was unable to return to Ukraine.

In February 2015, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine sent a request to the Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus, asking to figure out the whereabouts of Yezhel and his state of health. “The Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Belarus refused to provide the information requested,” Ukraine's Prosecutor General said.