Ukraine’s Zelensky fires top aide as office faces corruption investigation

Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies announced on Wednesday that they were investigating senior officials in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, a day after the country’s recently fired defence minister called for national elections despite the ongoing fight against Russia’s invasion.

The political drama was an unwelcome distraction for Zelensky as Ukraine’s war with its bigger neighbour stretches into its fifth year.

Investigators are conducting an operation to expose a criminal organisation allegedly led by a sitting and a former lawmaker, involving senior officials from the presidential office and other individuals, according to a joint statement from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

Further details would be released later, the agencies said in a joint statement.

The revelation brought another test of Zelensky’s political resilience as he remains dogged by high-level corruption investigations.

Last year, his chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigned and was later named as a suspect in a major corruption probe involving a luxury construction project in the biggest threat to Zelensky’s government since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.