Ukraine, Zelensky removes Iryna Mudra from the presidential office after searches by the NABU

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree removing Iryna Mudra as deputy head of the presidential office. This was reported by the website of the Suspilne broadcaster after this morning men from the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Office (Nabu) searched the homes of Mudra herself and of Vadym Stolar, a member of parliament, as part of an investigation that allegedly involves senior officials from the president's office.

Stolar's confirmation

“I can confirm that Nabu is conducting investigations at my home,” Stolar wrote on Facebook. “I am cooperating fully with the office and am not hindering the work of law enforcement in any way.” According to the Kyiv Independent, the office is also searching premises linked to Maksym Mykytas, a former member of Parliament, and the state bank Sense Bank. Mudra is responsible for the judiciary and judicial reform of President Zelensky's office. Stolar represented the pro-Russian faction Opposition Platform for Life in Parliament until it was banned during the large-scale invasion in 2022. He now represents the group Restoration of Ukraine, an offshoot of the Opposition Platform for Life. And he has been linked to several controversial construction projects in Kiev, as well as a scheme that allegedly defrauded hundreds of homebuyers in the 2000s. Although he has always denied allegations of wrongdoing.

The previous one

In December, NABU accused five MPs from President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People faction of receiving money in exchange for parliamentary votes. In the same month, the office also searched the homes of an associate of David Arakhamia, head of the "Servant of the People" faction, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent in April. The Ukrainska Pravda newspaper also reported in July, citing its sources, that earlier that month the NABU had obtained a court order allowing it to take biological samples from Arakhamia's assistant in the case involving alleged cash payments to MPs.