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.