Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed one of his most senior officials as anti-corruption investigators said a deputy head of the presidential office was among the suspects in a money-laundering case. Zelenskyy has not been implicated, but the inquiry opens another political test for a wartime administration already facing public discontent.
Investigators allege that a group laundered 150 million hryvnias, about $3.4 million, to pay bail for a defendant in a major corruption case involving the state nuclear power company. The new group of suspects includes a former lawmaker and senior figures from a state bank. Zelenskyy removed deputy presidential office head Iryna Mudra, although investigators had not publicly identified her as a suspect; a lawmaker said her office was searched.
The case adds to a series of investigations that have reached people close to the president. Former chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigned last year and was later named as a suspect in a luxury-construction investigation. The European Union continues to view entrenched corruption as a central obstacle to Ukraine's membership ambitions.
Pressure also intensified after recently dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for national elections and argued that Ukraine needs a legal, safe and realistic way to restore a full democratic process. Zelenskyy's term expired in 2024, but the constitution bars elections under martial law. Fedorov's removal, alongside commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, triggered street protests and sharpened debate over wartime leadership.
Parliament approved Maj. Gen. Yevhenii Khmara as the new defense minister and kept Andrii Sybiha as foreign minister. The political turbulence comes as Ukrainian drones strike deeper into Russia but peace efforts remain stalled and shortages of Patriot interceptors leave Ukrainian cities exposed. The same day, the two countries exchanged 103 prisoners each while Russian drone attacks killed civilians in southern Ukraine.
