Ukraine anti-corruption investigators search premises of senior Zelenskyy official
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau said it had launched
an operation linked to an alleged criminal organisation involving
current and former MPs and senior officials in the presidential
administration.
Ukraine’s anti-corruption investigators launched a major operation
on Wednesday morning targeting an alleged criminal organisation
involving politicians and senior government officials, including members
of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s administration.
Ukrainian media reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau
(NABU) had searched premises linked to Iryna Mudra, a deputy head of the
presidential office, 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.
