Anti-corruption investigators raided the home of the Ukrainian president’s parents after a cascade of foreign currency flooded their accounts, only for the pair to be released following an alleged intervention by the nation’s military intelligence chief.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has searched the residence of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s parents amid a growing inquiry into tax evasion, after more than $11 million was funnelled into their accounts over the course of 2025.
According to local media reports, the parents, Rimma and Oleksandr Zelensky, were briefly detained before being released. The sudden discharge allegedly came after a direct telephone call from Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, to the chief of NABU.
The substantial funds, flagged by financial watchdogs, were reportedly defended by the president’s parents as private “gifts.” The explanation has done little to quell a swirling political scandal in Kyiv, with investigators probing whether the payments constituted undeclared taxable income.
Following the call from Budanov — a close ally of the president — the elderly couple were promptly released, according to sources cited by Ukrainian news outlets. Neither the presidential office, NABU, nor military intelligence have issued official statements on the release, which threatens to reignite debates about the independence of the country’s anti-graft institutions during wartime.
