Ukraine anti-corruption agencies investigating network allegedly tied to Zelenskyy's office

The Associated Press

· Posted: Aug 19, 2026 7:06 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies announced Wednesday that they are investigating senior officials in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy'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 Zelenskyy as Ukraine's war with its bigger neighbour extends into its fifth year.

Investigators are conducting an operation to expose a criminal organization 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 Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.

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

The revelation brought another test of Zelenskyy's political resilience. Last year, his chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigned and was later named as a suspect in a major graft probe in the biggest threat to Zelenskyy's government since Russia's invasion in February 2022.

Zelenskyy is already under pressure over his firing last month of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, one of the longest-standing members of his team and a close ally since he helped Zelenskyy win the 2019 presidential election.

A fire is seen at the site of a Russian air attack in Pechenihy, in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, on Tuesday. (Ukrainian Emergency Service/The Associated Press)

Ukraine's parliament approved the appointment ‌of Yevhenii Khmara ​as new defence ​minister on Wednesday. Zelenskyy nominated ⁠Khmara, ⁠whom ‌he had earlier appointed as acting ⁠minister, after the ousting ‌of Fedorov in July.

The appointment was ​backed ⁠by 312 ⁠lawmakers, with ⁠226 ⁠needed for ​a majority.

Ex-defence minister calls for elections

Zelenskyy, seeking to reconcile tensions between the Defence Ministry's young and tech-savvy innovators and Ukraine's seasoned, Soviet-trained battlefield leaders, risked angering both sides by reshuffling his wartime leadership. He ousted both Fedorov, whose changes to military procurement aimed to stamp out corruption, and commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.

The move sparked days of street protests in support of Fedorov. For Zelenskyy, it was the second time in a year that a wartime decision triggered a strong public backlash, after he moved in mid-2025 to curb the powers of anti-corruption agencies.

Fedorov, in a video address posted to YouTube late Tuesday, called for elections to be held in Ukraine in a bombshell statement that appeared to directly confront Zelenskyy, who says a ballot can't be held under the martial law that is currently in place due to the war.

"We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amid a prolonged war," Fedorov said.

In a video address posted to YouTube late Tuesday, Mykhailo Fedorov, who was fired by Zelenskyy last month, called for elections to be held. (Mykhailo Fedorov/The Associated Press)

He said Ukraine is facing a systemic crisis in how it is governed, arguing that the current system is oriented toward protecting itself and resisting change. He also condemned corruption among officials without naming anyone, saying it had weakened Ukraine's ability to fight the war.

Zelenskyy's office did not immediately comment on Fedorov's address.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has balked at negotiating a peace deal directly with Zelenskyy, says the Ukrainian president is an illegitimate leader because his term expired in 2024.

Fedorov published his speech hours after Ukraine's parliament received a submission from Zelenskyy nominating Khmara as the new defence minister.

Ukraine's war successes

The political disarray comes after recent successes in the war for Ukraine. Using its innovative drone technology, it has repeatedly hit Russian oil facilities, causing fuel shortages.

It has also shocked the Russian public by striking warehouses of Wildberries, Russia's biggest online retailer, and stalled front-line advances by Russia's army.

But Zelenskyy has been unable to get traction in U.S.-led peace efforts, and Ukraine is at the mercy of Russia's ballistic missiles because more U.S.-made Patriot interceptors aren't available due to low international stockpiles.

In its latest strike on oil facilities, a drone hit an oil refinery in Ufa in Russia's Bashkortostan, its Gov. Radiy Khabirov was quoted as saying by Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti.

The city of Ufa is located roughly 1,300 kilometres east of the border with Ukraine. There are three oil refineries in Ufa, and all three have been attacked before.

WATCH | Ukraine targets Russia in drone barrage:

Russian air defences overnight intercepted 453 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions, as well as occupied Crimea and the Black Sea, the Defence Ministry in Moscow said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, a Russian drone attacked a minibus in the southern Kherson region on Wednesday morning, killing four people, said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration.

Four women were also wounded in the strike and were hospitalized, he said.

A Russian drone also struck a civilian car in Kherson city, the region's capital, on Wednesday, killing a woman, Prokudin said.