Who are officials ousted in Zelensky's largest reshuffle since start of full-scale war?

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Jan. 24 launched the biggest government reshuffle since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

A deputy head of the President's Office, a deputy prosecutor general, several deputy ministers, and several governors were ousted following a number of scandals, including corruption ones.

Some saw the reshuffle as an effort by Zelensky to clean house and show that state officials' corrupt and ostentatious lifestyle is unacceptable in a country at war.

"The president has realized that top officials need a kick in the ass," political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told the Kyiv Independent. "He (sent them a signal) that they should work and live according to the demands of the war. They shouldn't put their own comfort above the war."

But critics argued that the reshuffle is a result of political infighting, not a genuine anti-corruption drive, since some notorious top officials accused of corruption are notably missing from the list of those fired.

Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov claimed that the supplier meant to write Hr 170 per kilogram, not Hr 17 for one egg, and denied the existence of a corruption scheme.

Journalist Yuriy Nikolov, who broke the story, rejected this explanation. He published previous Defense Ministry contracts that clearly indicate a price for one egg, not for one kilogram.

Lemenov said that the Defense Ministry's explanations were bizarre and unconvincing. He added that Shapovalov had been chosen as a scapegoat in an effort to mitigate the corruption scandal.

On Jan. 24, the Cabinet of Ministers also fired Deputy Social Policy Minister Vitaliy Muzychenko, Deputy Territories and Communities Ministers Ivan Lukerya and Vyacheslav Nehoda, and Anatoliy Ivankevych and Viktor Vyshnyov - deputy heads of the State Service for Maritime and River Transport. 

Additionally, the Cabinet approved the ousting of five governors – Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Valentyn Reznichenko, Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Oleksandr Starukh, Sumy Oblast Governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky, Kherson Oblast Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych, and Kyiv Oblast Governor Oleksiy Kuleba.

Some of the deputy ministers and governors have been involved in corruption scandals, while other resignations appear to be a result of the government's restructuring rather than their negative background.

The best-known case concerns Governor Reznichenko.

On Nov. 2, Ukrainska Pravda published an investigation alleging that Reznichenko helped his fitness coach obtain road repair contracts worth Hr 1.5 billion (around $40 million). He and Yana Khlana, Reznichenko's fitness coach, have traveled together abroad, while she also uses a car registered with a company connected to the governor.

Following the investigation, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine opened a probe into alleged abuse of office.

On Jan. 22, the Cabinet also dismissed Deputy Infrastructure Minister Vasyl Lozynsky, who had been arrested and charged with getting a $400,000 bribe.

David Arakhamia, head of Zelensky's Servant of the People faction in parliament, also said on Jan. 23 that Pavlo Khalimon would be fired from the position of a deputy head of Zelensky's party faction following a corruption scandal. 

According to Ukrainska Pravda, Khalimon bought a mansion in central Kyiv in the summer of 2022 amid Russia's full-scale invasion. According to the investigation, Khalimon tried to hide the purchase by registering the house as the property of Anastasiia Kotelenets, who the journalists allege is his girlfriend.

The journalists filmed Khalimon entering and leaving the house multiple times.

A year earlier, Kotelenets bought 45 land plots, including a few from a former business partner of Khalimon. The woman’s Facebook page says that she works at a lingerie company.