Ukraine's anti-corruption investigation is approaching the core of the presidential power again.
On August 19 local time, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) announced the launch of a special operation against a so-called 'criminal organization'. The two agencies stated that this organization is led by current and former parliamentarians, with involvement from senior officials of the presidential office. Ukrainian media later revealed that anti-corruption agents searched the premises of Iryna Mudra, the deputy head of the presidential office, and Vyrd Stola, a member of parliament.
On that day, Zelensky signed an order to remove Muda from her position as deputy head of the President's Office. The order issued by the Presidential Palace did not specify the reason for her dismissal, so it cannot be directly concluded that she was dismissed 'due to corruption'. However, considering that the search and dismissal occurred on the same day, this case has rapidly escalated from a judicial operation to a personnel shakeup within the Presidential Palace.
As the investigation progressed, the case outline also began to become clear. NABU and SAPO subsequently claimed that the organization was suspected of laundering approximately 150 million Griffen fund, to pay bail for suspects in an energy corruption case earlier. The subjects are said to include the Deputy Director of the Presidential Office, former parliamentarian, and a bank management staff member from a state-owned bank. Whether the relevant personnel ultimately constituted criminal activity remains to be determined by the judicial process.
What truly deserves attention is the position of Mudra.
She is not an ordinary administrative officer, but the Deputy Director of the President’s Office responsible for judicial and legal reform affairs since 2024. In other words, the senior official in the Ukrainian government who is responsible for promoting judicial system reforms has now fallen under the investigation of the anti-corruption agencies.
This is particularly sensitive for Zelenskyy.
In July 2025, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a law that significantly enhanced the Prosecutor General's control over NABU and SAPO. After Zelenskyy signed the law, there were rare wartime protests in places like Kyiv, which also led to strong criticism from the European Union. A few days later, Zelenskyy was forced to introduce a new law to restore the independent authority of the two institutions.
The core of the controversy at that time was actually just one question: Can Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies really afford to investigate those around the president?
A year later, this question received a rather straightforward answer.
Moreover, this is not the first time that investigators have visited the presidential office. In November 2025, NABU and SAPO conducted searches at the residence and office of then-President's Office Director Andrey Yermak. Yermak later resigned. By 2026, he himself became the target of a broader corruption investigation.
Therefore, the purpose of searching Muderah is not just because another senior official has become involved in the case.
In a context where war continues and the negotiations for EU membership are highly dependent on rule of law and anti-corruption reforms, it becomes increasingly difficult for Zelensky to use "wartime unity" to isolate domestic political issues. Every step that anti-corruption agencies take towards the presidential office actually redefines the boundaries of wartime power in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy quickly dismissed Mudra on that day, which at least shows that he is well aware of one thing: the most dangerous thing right now is not just whether a certain official is corrupt, but whether the public begins to believe that people around the president can override the anti-corruption system.
