KYIV: The deputy head of Ukraine\u2019s presidential office quit Tuesday, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to launch a staff shake-up amid high-level corruption allegations during the war with Russia.
\nKyrylo Tymoshenko asked to be relieved of his duties, according to an online copy of a decree signed by Zelensky and Tymoshenko\u2019s own social media posts.
\nNeither gave a reason for the resignation.
\nDeputy Defense Minister Viacheslav Shapovalov also resigned, local media reported, alleging his departure was linked to a scandal involving the purchase of food for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
\nDeputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Symonenko also quit.
\nTymoshenko joined the presidential office in 2019, after working on Zelensky\u2019s media and creative content strategy during his presidential campaign.
\nZelensky had promised personnel changes in the government, regional administrations and security forces following corruption allegations that emerged after Russia\u2019s invasion last February.
\nTymoshenko last year was under investigation relating to his personal use of luxury cars. He was also among officials linked last September to the embezzlement of humanitarian aid worth more than $7 million earmarked for the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
\nHe has denied all the allegations.
\nZelensky vowed to drive out corrupt officials in comments on Sunday, when a deputy minister was dismissed for being part of a network embezzling budget funds. Ukraine\u2019s infrastructure ministry later identified the dismissed official as Vasyl Lozynsky, a deputy minister there.
\nIn his nightly video address, Zelensky said that Ukraine\u2019s focus on the war would not stop his government from tackling corruption.
\nZelensky, who came to power in 2019 on an anti-establishment and anti-corruption platform, pointed to suspicions in the areas of energy and military procurement.
\nHe said he intended the deputy minister\u2019s dismissal to send \u201ca signal to all those whose actions or behavior violate the principle of justice.\u201d
\n\u201cI want to be clear: There will be no return to what used to be in the past,\u201d Zelensky said.
\nOleksandr Kubrakov, the infrastructure minister, said Lozynsky was relieved of his duties after Ukraine\u2019s anti-corruption agency detained him while he was receiving a $400,000 bribe for helping to fix contracts related to restoring infrastructure facilities battered by Russian missile strikes.
\nA statement by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine described Lozynsky as part of \u201can organized criminal group involved in the embezzlement of budget funds.\u201d
\nIt said its detectives were working to identify the group\u2019s other members.
\nIn other developments:
\nRussian shelling overnight killed one civilian and wounded two others near the eastern city of Bakhmut, the epicenter of the fighting in recent months, regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said Tuesday.
\nRussian forces also shelled nine towns and villages in the northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, killing a young woman and wounding three other people, local Gov. Dmytro Zhyvytskyy reported on Telegram.
\nHe said the casualties all lived in the same house, which suffered a direct artillery hit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV: The deputy head of Ukraine\u2019s presidential office quit Tuesday, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to launch a staff shake-up amid high-level corruption allegations during the war with Russia. Kyrylo Tymoshenko asked to be relieved of his duties, according to an online copy of a decree signed by Zelensky and Tymoshenko\u2019s own social media […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-309368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n