Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday fired a top aide reportedly targeted in a corruption investigation, just a day after an ousted defence minister issued a surprise call for wartime elections.
Zelensky issued a decree to remove Iryna Mudra, his deputy chief of staff, after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said it was raiding the homes of a senior official from the president's office and a sitting member of parliament.
The agency, which did not name Mudra, said the investigation was linked to allegations of money laundering over a multimillion-dollar bail payment for a suspect in a major corruption case brought last year.
Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies earlier on Wednesday said they had launched a special operation against lawmakers and presidential advisers.
The NABU and SAPO agencies said in a YouTube video they had launched a special operation against lawmakers and presidential advisers. The anti-graft bodies said the group comprised a deputy head of the presidential office, a former lawmaker, heads of the management and supervisory boards of a state-owned bank and others.
They did not name the individuals, in accordance with Ukrainian law.
The probe poses a fresh headache for Zelensky after ousted defence chief Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections in a bombshell statement late on Tuesday.
Lawmakers on Wednesday approved the appointment of Yevhenii Khmara, a former top special forces operative, as Ukraine’s new defence minister after weeks of political turmoil over Fedorov’s ouster.
His removal had sent thousands of protesters on to the streets in rare wartime protests over the past month demanding that Zelensky reinstate the 35-year-old politician, whose supporters credit him with trying to reform the ministry.
The crisis had also forced Zelensky to replace Ukraine’s top military commander with the younger Mykhailo Drapatyi, who was backed by protesters for his allegedly more troop-friendly approach, which they hope will lessen losses on the front line.
Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies have waged a high-profile war against graft while Kyiv’s military fights Russia, targeting senior officials in a campaign they say is critical to preparing for Ukrainian membership in the European Union.
Late last year, Zelensky's top aide and eminence grise Andriy Yermak resigned after being linked to a $100 million graft probe into the energy sector, which has been battered by Russian attacks throughout the war.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
