Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired the deputy head of the presidential office Iryna Mudra on Wednesday, his office announced, on the same day the country's anti-corruption investigators launched a major operation targeting an alleged criminal organisation involving politicians and senior government officials.
Ukrainian media reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) had searched premises linked to Mudra and member of parliament Vadym Stolar.
NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said they were conducting an operation to uncover what they described as a “criminal organisation operating under the leadership of a current and a former Ukrainian MP and involving senior officials in the presidential office” and others.
The agencies did not initially identify those involved or set out the allegations against them, saying further details would be released later.
The investigation, dubbed “Forest Gump,” is the latest high-profile corruption probe to reach Zelenskyy’s administration.
Mudra is responsible for legal affairs and judicial reform in the presidential office. She previously served as a deputy justice minister.
Stolar was elected to parliament as a member of the pro-Russian Opposition Platform - For Life, which was banned after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
He now sits with Restoration of Ukraine, a parliamentary group formed largely by former members of the banned party.
NABU has released excerpts from intercepted conversations as part of the operation but has not publicly identified the speakers.
The recordings appear to include discussions about registering assets in the names of children and references to the presidential office.
The operation comes amid a series of investigations by NABU and SAPO into alleged corruption at the highest levels of Ukrainian politics.
