Ukrainian officials tender resignation in anti-corruption drive

A top presidential adviser, the deputy defence minister, and the deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine all resigned on Tuesday.

Mr Zelensky has hinted that additional high officials may be on their way out in order to combat corruption. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, one of the officials, was embroiled in problems involving his usage of costly automobiles.

According to top adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, Mr Zelensky was responding to a “key public demand” that justice be applied to everybody.

The corruption crackdown followed accusations in Ukrainian media that the country’s defence ministry overpaid for food supplies with a relatively obscure business. On Monday, another minister was detained on bribery accusations.

Mr. Zelensky has previously prohibited top government employees from leaving the nation unless on official government business.

Mr Tymoshenko, the president’s deputy chief of staff who managed regional policy and had previously worked on Mr Zelensky’s election campaign, was the first to leave on Tuesday.

He has become a regular government speaker since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. He praised Mr Zelensky for “the opportunity to conduct good actions every day and every minute” in a Telegram post.

Vyacheslav Shopalov, the Deputy Defence Minister, has also resigned, following claims that he managed the contentious arrangement for the military’s food supply. The government stated this was a “technical mistake” and that no money had changed hands.

The defence minister himself – Oleksii Reznikov – has been under scrutiny for the same reason.

And Deputy Prosecutor General Oleskiy Symonenko was removed from his post “according to his own wish”, his office said.