Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
On the morning of 19 August 2026, a new NABU and SAP operation exposing corruption became known.
It was named "Forrest Gump" and is an offshoot, or rather a development, of the "Midas" operation, during which a business partner of President Zelensky and then-serving members of the government were exposed.
Now two members of parliament, the chair of the supervisory board of the state-owned "Sens Bank," and a current deputy head of the Office of the President have come into the anti-corruption investigators' sights.
Law enforcement agencies are not naming names, but insiders say it is not about the deputy Kirill Budanov, but a deputy (female). Iryna Mudra. Who she is and what is known about her — read in the material on Channel 24.
Youth, education, and work in the banking sector
Iryna Mudra was born on 6 July 1975 in the urban-type settlement of Medenychi, Drohobych district, in the Lviv region. She graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Drohobych Pedagogical Institute, and later studied law at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
The first major workplace for the young lawyer, who moved from Lviv to Kyiv, was "Transbank," which no longer exists. There Mudra worked as head of the credit-investment activities department of the legal department from 2006 to 2008.
She then moved to another now-defunct financial institution — the Ukrainian division of Swedbank (working as director of the legal department of the financial restructuring department), and in 2013 she moved to work at "Pravexbank" as head of the legal department of the risk management division.
Iryna Mudra made a rapid career in the banking sector / Photo – Oschadbank
This bank, now part of the international Intesa Sanpaolo group, is known for once belonging to the famous Kyiv mayor Leonid Chernovetsky and having become the "personnel base" for his infamously known “young team.”
Iryna Mudra's next workplace was the state Oschadbank. There she worked from 2015 to 2022 and headed the institution's legal group.
In particular, Mudra's team handled the legal support of the arbitration process in the case "Oschadbank" against the Russian Federation regarding compensation for damages caused by the illegal annexation of Crimea. The lawyers won the case — in 2018 a decision was made recognizing Russia's actions as illegal and obliging it to compensate Oschadbank for damages related to the unlawful expropriation of assets in the amount of 1,3 billion dollars.
Alongside her work, Mudra did not neglect further education — she received a diploma for completing legal English courses at the University of Cambridge, an MBA from the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), and interned at the International Compliance Association in London.
Iryna Mudra's personal life
Mudra also did not forget about family — she has two children. A daughter (her name is Kateryna Shatrova) and a son named Lev. His father is Mudra's common-law partner. His name is Pavlo Poliarush; he works at the National Bank of Ukraine as head of the Problem Assets Management Department.
Mudra's work in the Government
In the spring of 2022, Mudra joined Denys Shmyhal's Cabinet as deputy to Justice Minister Denys Maliuska. She became one of the curators of the ministry's international work and became one of the government's faces abroad.
Thus, Iryna Mudra oversaw the creation and implementation of the Register of Losses Caused by the Russian Federation's Aggression Against Ukraine, and signed on behalf of Ukraine the Ljubljana-Hague Convention on cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other international crimes.
In her position the official proved herself to be a professional lawyer and a team player, so she received a "promotion" in the form of an invitation to the Office of the President of Ukraine to the position of deputy head of the presidential patronage service, which during the full-scale war sometimes (often) supplanted the official Cabinet.
What Mudra did in the Office of the President
As deputy to then-head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak, Iryna Mudra was responsible for removing legal obstacles to Ukraine's accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the ratification of the so-called "Rome Statute."
Iryna Mudra portrayed as an experienced official / Photo – Cabinet of Ministers
She completed that task. The document was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada, and as of 1 January 2025, Ukraine is a state party to the ICC.
Mudra also continued her work, begun in government, to create an international Commission to consider claims for Ukraine that would award payments for damages caused by Russian aggression.
On 5 November 2024, Iryna Mudra joined the Competition Commission for the selection of independent members of supervisory boards of state banks as the president's representative, replacing Office of the President deputy head Rostyslav Shurma.
Yermak's resignation did not officially affect Mudra's position — the experienced lawyer kept her post even after Kyrylo Budanov's appointment.
Mudra oversees coordination efforts to create a Special Tribunal to try crimes in Russia's war against Ukraine. Mudra represents Ukraine in the main group of states working on creating the tribunal.
Operation "Forrest Gump" and the rapid dismissal
While Mudra's official duties in the Office of the President are clear, questions arise about her informal activities.
They also arose at NABU, which began wiretapping the official and learned a lot of interesting things.
Why the operation is named that way — we can only guess. Perhaps it refers to the legendary line from the movie "Run, Forrest, run."
On the tapes that were released on 19 August 2026 as evidence of the illegal activities of the figures in operation "Forrest Gump," the voice of a woman labeled "deputy head of the OPU" can be heard, and she demonstrates considerable awareness of and involvement in the affairs of Tymur Mindich — a figure in the "Midas" investigation and a business partner of President Zelensky. Moreover, she still keeps contact with him and conducts business.
Operation "Forrest Gump" — watch the NABU video:
NABU suggests that the official organized the collection of “dirty cash” in the amount of 150 million hryvnias. It was collected through the state "Sens Bank" to secure the release from custody of one of the figures in the "Midas" case. Possibly Herman Halushchenko — the former justice minister, unlike Tymur Mindich, did not manage to flee abroad and therefore ended up behind bars.
Screenshot from the NABU video for those who don't have time to watch it all:
Also, according to media reports, besides Iryna Mudra, the scheme involved Member of Parliament Vadym Stolar, former MP Maksym Mykytas, and the chair of the supervisory board of "Sens Bank."
According to the investigation, they gained effective control over the bank in order to funnel sums through controlled firms bypassing financial monitoring. They were notified of suspicions under part 3 of article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (money laundering), and searches were conducted at Ms. Iryna's place.
Iryna Mudra has not commented on this information so far; meanwhile Vadym Stolar (who is currently outside Ukraine) has already confirmed the fact of being handed a suspicion and promised to cooperate with the investigation.
President Zelensky reacted to the news quite promptly — on 19 August, a decree appeared on his website dismissing Iryna Mudra from her position.
Mudra was dismissed even before the video, possibly featuring her, reached 50 thousand views / Screenshot
President Zelensky's reaction, by the way, is comparable to the legendary speed of the cult hero played by Tom Hanks.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Операція "Форрест Гамп": хто така Ірина Мудра та в чому її звинувачують". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.
