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Zelenskyy Fires Top Aide Amid Probe 08/20 06:38
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired one of
his most senior officials Wednesday as corruption investigators named a deputy
head of the presidential office among the suspects in a money-laundering case.
The stunning developments came a day after Ukraine's recently fired defense
minister demanded national elections, despite Russia's more than 4-year-old
invasion.
Although Zelenskyy was not implicated in the graft investigation, it
threatened to pull him into another political crisis and provide another test
of his resilience.
Investigators gave few details of the probe. It has identified a group of
people alleged to have laundered 150 million hryvnias ($3.4 million) to pay
bail for a defendant in a major graft case last year, the National
Anti-Corruption Bureau said.
That case, involving the state-owned nuclear power company, brought the
resignations of Ukraine's justice and energy ministers.
The latest suspects include a former lawmaker, the chairperson of a state
bank's board and the head of the bank's supervisory board, as well as a deputy
head of the presidential office, the agency said.
Zelenskyy made no public comment on the investigation but issued a decree
dismissing Iryna Mudra as deputy head of the Office of the President.
Investigators have not named her as a suspect.
Investigators searched Mudra's office Wednesday, said lawmaker Oleksii
Honcharenko.
Zelenskyy remains dogged by high-level graft investigations, although he has
never been named as a suspect even as the probes have engulfed officials close
to him. Last year, his chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigned and later was
named as a suspect in a major graft probe involving a luxury construction
project in the biggest threat to Zelenskyy's government since Russia's 2022
invasion.
The European Union has identified deep-seated corruption as one of the major
hurdles to Ukraine's desired membership in the bloc.
Zelenskyy's former aide wants a wartime election
Zelenskyy is already under pressure over his firing last month of Defense
Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, one of the longest-standing members of his team and
a close ally since helping him win the 2019 presidential election.
Zelenskyy, seeking to reconcile tensions between the Defense Ministry's
young and tech-savvy innovators and Ukraine's seasoned, Soviet-trained
battlefield leaders, risked angering both sides by reshuffling his wartime
leadership. He ousted both Fedorov, whose changes to military procurement aimed
to stamp out corruption, and commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.
That sparked sustained street protests supporting Fedorov. For Zelenskyy, it
was the second time in a year that a move triggered a strong public backlash,
after he tried to curb the powers of anti-corruption agencies in 2025.
Fedorov, in an address posted to YouTube late Tuesday, called for elections
-- appearing to directly confront Zelenskyy, whose term expired in 2024.
Ukraine's constitution prohibits such a vote under martial law.
"We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine
to restore a full democratic process even amid a prolonged war," Fedorov said.
He said Ukraine faces a crisis in how it is governed, arguing the current
system is oriented toward protecting itself and resisting change. He also
condemned corruption among officials without naming anyone, saying it had
weakened Ukraine's ability to fight.
Zelenskyy's office did not immediately comment on Fedorov's address. It was
not immediately clear whether Fedorov's appeal would resonate with Ukrainians.
Also on Wednesday, lawmakers approved Zelenskyy's candidate, Maj. Gen.
Yevhenii Khmara, as the new defense minister, a move that effectively closes
the door to Fedorov's return to the post, which he has sought, anytime soon.
Lawmakers also gave their consent for Andrii Sybiha to stay on as foreign
minister after serving in an interim role.
Political disarray follows Ukrainian wartime successes
The political disarray follows recent successes for Ukraine in the war.
Using innovative drone technology, it has repeatedly hit Russian oil
facilities, causing fuel shortages. It has also shocked the Russian public by
striking warehouses of Wildberries, the country's biggest online retailer, and
stalled front-line advances by Moscow's bigger army.
But Zelenskyy has been unable to get traction in U.S.-led peace efforts, and
Ukraine is at the mercy of Russia's ballistic missiles because more U.S.-made
Patriot interceptors aren't available due to low international stockpiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has balked at negotiating a peace deal
directly with Zelenskyy.
In its latest attack, a Ukrainian drone hit an oil refinery in Ufa in
Russia's Bashkortostan, its Gov. Radiy Khabirov was quoted as saying by Russian
state news agency RIA Novosti. There are three oil refineries in Ufa, and all
have been attacked.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted 453
Ukrainian drones over multiple regions, as well as Russian-held Crimea and the
Black Sea.
It said Russian forces on Tuesday hit a bulk carrier in the Black Sea,
southeast of Odesa, that was carrying military equipment. On Wednesday, the
Russian military struck what it said were fuel and lubricant storage tanks for
the Ukrainian armed forces in the southern port of Chornomorsk.
A Russian drone struck a minibus in Kherson in southern Ukraine on
Wednesday, killing four people, said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the regional
military administration, adding that four women were wounded. Another Russian
drone struck a civilian car in the regional capital, killing a woman, he said.
Amid the fighting, Russia and Ukraine swapped 103 prisoners of war,
according to Zelenskyy and the Russian Defense Ministry.
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