New corruption probes pile pressure on Zelenskyy ahead of key vote

Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies, Nabu and Sapo, announced a new investigation into unnamed members of parliament and presidential advisers, offering no further details. The announcement landed just hours before parliament was due to vote on Yevhen Khmara as the new defence minister, appointed after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed his predecessor, Mykhailo Fedorov.

The timing adds to mounting pressure on Zelenskyy, who is already contending with the fallout from Fedorov's dismissal a month ago, which triggered street protests in Kyiv calling for reform of the defence sector and his reinstatement. On Tuesday night, Fedorov released a nine-minute video address calling for a wartime presidential election, describing it as necessary to restore a full democratic process even amid prolonged war and insisting democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia. It is considered the most direct political challenge to Zelenskyy since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Ukrainian political analyst Artem Bronzhukov questioned whether holding elections would be practical while Russian bombing continues, saying there is currently no clear understanding of how to guarantee public safety during full-scale war. Polling by the Socis Centre for Social Research conducted at the turn of the month put Zelenskyy first in a hypothetical first round with 22.3%, followed by former armed forces chief and current UK ambassador Valerii Zaluzhnyi on 21.4% and Fedorov on 13.1%. The same poll suggested Zelenskyy would lose a run-off to either rival. Any election would also have to reckon with millions of exiled and displaced citizens, over a million people serving in the armed forces, and roughly a fifth of the country under Russian occupation.

Overnight, at least four people were killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine after a drone hit a bus in the southern city of Kherson. Ukraine sent hundreds of drones toward Russian targets, with Moscow claiming it shot down 453 of them. Russian forces also struck a cargo vessel in the Black Sea near the Ukrainian port of Odesa, which Russia's defence ministry said was carrying military cargo.