Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators are examining senior figures connected to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office as a widening political crisis combines new graft allegations, leadership changes and a public call from former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov for wartime elections.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies announced Wednesday that an investigation has reached senior officials in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, adding to mounting political pressure on the Ukrainian leader as the country’s war with Russia enters its fifth year.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau said investigators identified a group suspected of laundering 150 million hryvnias, approximately $3.4 million, that was used to pay bail last year for a defendant in a major corruption case.
That earlier investigation involved Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear power company and led to the resignations of the country’s justice and energy ministers.
The latest group of suspects includes a deputy head of the presidential office, a former member of parliament, the chairperson of a state bank’s board and the head of the bank’s supervisory board, along with others, according to the anti-corruption agency.
Zelenskyy did not publicly address the investigation Wednesday.
He did, however, issue a decree removing Iryna Mudra from her position as deputy head of the Office of the President.
The development represents another significant test for Zelenskyy, whose administration has faced a series of high-level corruption investigations while simultaneously directing Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
Last year, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, resigned and was later identified as a suspect in a major corruption investigation involving a luxury construction project.
That case became one of the most serious political challenges to Zelenskyy’s government since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Concerns about corruption extend beyond Ukraine’s domestic politics.
The European Union has repeatedly identified entrenched corruption as one of the major obstacles Ukraine must overcome as it seeks membership in the bloc.
The latest investigation comes during an already turbulent period for Zelenskyy following his decision last month to dismiss Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Fedorov was one of the longest-serving members of Zelenskyy’s political team and had been a close ally since helping him win Ukraine’s 2019 presidential election.
His removal was part of a broader effort by Zelenskyy to restructure Ukraine’s wartime leadership amid tensions between younger, technology-focused defense officials and more experienced battlefield commanders whose careers developed under Soviet-era military traditions.
Zelenskyy removed both Fedorov and commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Fedorov had pursued changes in military procurement aimed at reducing corruption and modernizing Ukraine’s defense operations.
His dismissal prompted several days of street demonstrations by supporters.
It marked the second time within roughly a year that one of Zelenskyy’s wartime decisions generated substantial public opposition, following his move in mid-2025 to restrict the authority of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies.
The political dispute intensified Tuesday night when Fedorov publicly called for Ukraine to develop a way to hold national elections despite the continuing war.
“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 in a video address posted to YouTube.
The statement placed him at odds with Zelenskyy’s position that national elections cannot legally be conducted while martial law remains in effect because of the Russian invasion.
Fedorov described Ukraine as confronting a broader crisis in governance and argued that the existing political system had become focused on preserving itself rather than embracing necessary changes.
He also criticized corruption among public officials without identifying specific individuals, arguing that misconduct had weakened Ukraine’s ability to prosecute the war.
Zelenskyy’s office did not immediately respond to Fedorov’s remarks.
It also remained uncertain whether his call for elections would gain significant public support inside Ukraine.
The election dispute has international implications because Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly challenged Zelenskyy’s legitimacy and resisted negotiating a peace agreement directly with him.
Putin argues that Zelenskyy is no longer a legitimate president because the term he won in 2019 expired in 2024.
Ukraine has rejected that position, with elections suspended under wartime martial law.
Fedorov’s prospects of quickly returning to government diminished further Wednesday when Ukraine’s parliament approved Zelenskyy’s nominee, Yevhenii Khmara, as the country’s new defense minister.
The vote effectively closes the door for now on Fedorov’s effort to return to the ministry.
Lawmakers also approved Andrii Sybiha to remain foreign minister after he had been serving in the position on an interim basis.
The political turmoil is unfolding as Ukraine has recorded several recent battlefield and long-range strike successes against Russia.
Ukrainian forces have repeatedly used domestically developed drone technology to attack Russian oil infrastructure, contributing to fuel shortages.
Ukraine has also struck warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, while slowing advances by Russia’s larger army along portions of the front.
One of the latest Ukrainian drone attacks struck an oil refinery in Ufa, according to Bashkortostan Gov. Radiy Khabirov, whose comments were carried by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Ufa sits approximately 1,300 kilometers, or 800 miles, east of the Ukrainian border.
The city contains three oil refineries, all of which have previously been attacked.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Russian air defenses intercepted 453 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions, occupied Crimea and the Black Sea.
Russia also reported carrying out additional attacks against Ukrainian military logistics.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said Russian forces struck a bulk carrier southeast of Odesa on Tuesday evening that it said was transporting military equipment.
On Wednesday, Russia said its forces hit fuel and lubricant storage tanks used by the Ukrainian armed forces in the southern port city of Chornomorsk.
Russian attacks inside Ukraine also caused civilian casualties Wednesday.
Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, said a Russian drone struck a minibus in the southern Kherson region Wednesday morning, killing four people.
Four women were wounded and hospitalized, he said.
A separate Russian drone attack struck a civilian vehicle in Kherson city later Wednesday and killed a woman, according to Prokudin.
Despite Ukraine’s recent ability to strike targets deep inside Russia and impede some Russian battlefield advances, Kyiv continues to face significant strategic difficulties.
Zelenskyy has yet to achieve substantial progress through U.S.-led efforts to negotiate an end to the war.
Ukraine also remains vulnerable to Russian ballistic missile attacks because additional U.S.-made Patriot interceptors are not readily available amid limited international stockpiles.
Even as combat continued, the two countries carried out another prisoner exchange Wednesday.
Ukraine and Russia each returned 103 prisoners of war, according to Zelenskyy and the Russian Defense Ministry.
The exchange came as the Ukrainian government confronted a widening set of pressures at home: a corruption investigation reaching senior figures around the presidency, continuing fallout from Zelenskyy’s military leadership shake-up and an increasingly public debate over whether Ukraine should find a way to restore national elections while the war continues.
The anti-corruption allegations remain under investigation, and the individuals identified by authorities have not been convicted of wrongdoing.
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