Ukraine

Zelenskyy Fires Aide Amid Corruption Probe

Will this heap pressure on the president or is it ridiculous to expect he's not more involved?

Published AUG 20

Zelenskyy Fires Aide Amid Corruption Probe

Story

Above: Iryna Mudra in Lviv, Ukraine, on May 9, 2025. Image credit: Eduard Kryzhanivskyi/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images

The Facts

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sacked Iryna Mudra, the deputy head of his office, hours after her home was searched by anti-corruption investigators on Wednesday.
The raid by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) came after it announced the details of a new investigation (Operation Forrest Gump) that did not directly name Mudra but accused the deputy head of office, a former member of parliament and two officials from the state-backed Sense bank of involvement.
NABU alleged that the group laundered roughly 150 million Ukrainian hryvnia ($3.4 million) through Sense bank to post bail for former Energy Minister German Galushchenko.
Galushchenko is accused in the "Midas" case, in which a number of Zelenskyy's closest allies, including Timur Mindich and former chief of staff Andriy Yermak, are alleged to have siphoned off roughly $100 million from the state-backed energy company Energoatom.
The Kyiv Independent
NBC
Al Jazeera
US News & World Report
Yermak was also accused of funneling the illicitly gained funds into the "Dynasty" construction project in Kozyn, near Kyiv. In secret NABU recordings obtained and published by Ukrainska Pravda earlier in the year, Mindich could be heard discussing the development. The tapes also mention "Vova" — a nickname for Volodymyr — but NABU has declined to comment.
Al Jazeera
Ukrainska Pravda
The New Voice of Ukraine
EuroNews
The latest developments came as Mykhailo Fedorov, the former defense minister, called for war-time elections earlier in the week, pointing to alleged corruption that he described as creating a "systemic governance crisis" in the country.
Le Monde

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

There must be full integrity in Ukraine's energy providers, as well as in all positions of public office. That's why Zelenskyy has promptly dismissed anyone accused of corruption and has fully supported the work of investigators in the course of their work.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy on X

Establishment-critical narrative

Another of Zelenkyy's top associates has been caught up in corruption allegations and the Ukrainian people are expected to believe that the president is by no way implicated. it is an insult to the people of Ukraine that they are expected to think Zelenskyy has no idea what's happening in his office.