Story perspectives

Zelensky Dismisses Deputy Chief Over Forrest Gump Probe

8/21/2026

Summary

Zelenskyy Dismisses

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Iryna Mudra, deputy head of his office, after Operation Forrest Gump probe on August 19, 2026.
The group allegedly laundered 150 million hryvnia via Sense Bank to pay bail for Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.
NABU released recordings of Mudra saying Sense Bank would not be targeted and would cover it.
The probe named Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov and head Rostyslav Shurma as suspects during accession talks.

Summary

Khmara Appointed Defence

Parliament approved acting Security Service chief Yevhen Khmara as defence minister on August 19, 2026.
Demonstrators in Kyiv’s Mariinsky Park, Ivan Franko Square and the Verkhovna Rada August 18 demanded Mykhaylo Fedorov’s return as defence minister.
Servant of the People MP Sviatoslav Yurash said a sub-committee is drafting election legislation despite nightly Russian bombardments.
Former defence minister Mykhaylo Fedorov warned on YouTube that corruption harms the war effort and urged wartime elections.

History

Historical Context

The Euromaidan uprising, ignited on 21 November 2013, forced President Viktor Yanukovych to flee and reshaped Ukraine’s governance by demanding systemic change. During the protests, roughly 120,000 Kyiv demonstrators rallied outside the Verkhovna Rada, while the National Bank of Ukraine froze $1 billion in suspect assets. Today's dismissal of Deputy Head Iryna Mudra and appointment of Yevhen Khmara echo the 2014 cabinet reshuffles that installed security-service veterans like Arsen Avakov. The precedent suggests Ukraine will keep using anti-corruption investigations to justify leadership turnover, bolstering reform credibility with the European Union and donors.

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Zelenskyy Dismisses

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Iryna Mudra, deputy head of his office, after Operation Forrest Gump probe on August 19, 2026.
The group allegedly laundered 150 million hryvnia via Sense Bank to pay bail for Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.
NABU released recordings of Mudra saying Sense Bank would not be targeted and would cover it.
The probe named Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov and head Rostyslav Shurma as suspects during accession talks.

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