Ex-Zelensky aide bailed out by petty criminals and debtors – media

Irina Mudraya was released after more than a dozen people with no apparent ties to her helped raise the required sum A former aide to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has been released on bail in a money laundering case after $450,000 was raised by an array of middlemen with no apparent ties to her, a media investigation has revealed.

Irina Mudraya is accused of laundering money to secure the release of a former Ukrainian energy minister implicated in a corruption scandal.

She was released from pre-trial detention on Thursday, more than a month after her arrest, after Ukraine’s central bank issued instructions clarifying how financial institutions should process bail payments under anti-money laundering regulations.

Her case is one in a string of graft scandals rocking the Zelensky government.

The investigative outlet Skhemi has identified people who contributed to Mudraya’s roughly $450,000 bail, drawing on public records and law enforcement sources. За бывшую заместительницу главы Офиса Зеленского Мудрую внесли залог в 20 млн гривен для освобождения из СИЗО💰 Иру подозревают в причастности к преступной организации, легализации незаконно полученных средств и рейдерству. Её имя фигурирует в расследованиях НАБУ и САП. https://t.co/lY7NTIpgtI — ARSEN (@Ars7513) October 8, 2026 More than a dozen individuals with no obvious ties to Mudraya reportedly transferred amounts of less than $16,000 each.

One contributor told journalists he had acted as a middleman for a fee of around $10.

The man lives in a communal apartment in Kiev, has struggled to pay utility bills, and was reportedly robbed in 2024.

Read more Key Zelensky staff arrested over money laundering to bailout ex-minister A woman who contributed an identical amount had been convicted of stealing Nintendo gaming consoles and received a suspended prison sentence.

She also has outstanding utility debts.

Another contributor was linked to a conviction for stealing a baby stroller and pawning it.

Eight of the smaller contributions were made on the same day.

The largest payment from someone outside Mudraya’s known circle, approximately $54,000, reportedly came from a female singer who declined to comment to Skhemi.

Mudraya was accused by Western-backed anti-corruption investigators of laundering millions in cash to post bail for former Energy Minister German Galushchenko.

The disgraced official is suspected of involvement in a corruption scheme allegedly run by businessman Timur Mindich, a longtime associate of Zelensky.