Ukraine anti-corruption raids target Zelensky aide and MPs in 'Forest Gump' operation
NABU and SAP search homes of Iryna Mudra, Vadim Stolar and others amid ministerial vote
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Ukraine anti-corruption raids target Zelensky aide and MPs in 'Forest Gump' operation
Photograph: Unknown (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office conducted raids on 19 August 2026 as part of 'Operation Forest Gump'.
- Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Presidential Office, and former MP Vadim Stolar were among those searched. Both confirmed the raids.
- The operation coincides with a parliamentary vote on new defence and foreign ministers. NABU and SAP published wiretap excerpts naming likely defendants.
- None of the centre- or right-rated outlets in the sample below reported the story.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 9 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 7 of the 16 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
55/100
Hype
25/100
16 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 9 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
On 19 August 2026 Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) announced a special operation to expose a criminal organisation. The operation, named 'Forest Gump', involved searches at the homes and offices of current and former members of parliament, officials from the Presidential Office, and figures linked to the Ministry of Justice and Sense Bank.
Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Presidential Office, was among those searched. Mudra, appointed in March 2024, previously served as deputy justice minister and led Ukraine’s legal strategy on frozen Russian assets and war reparations. Vadim Stolar, a former MP from the banned Opposition Platform, For Life party, confirmed on Facebook that NABU conducted searches at his home. He stated he was cooperating with investigators.
NABU and SAP published excerpts of wiretaps and named likely defendants, including MPs and high-ranking officials. The operation took place during a parliamentary session to vote on new defence and foreign ministers, part of a government reshuffle initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
What the coverage left out
None of the centre- or right-rated outlets in the sample below reported the story. The left-rated digests did not mention the document NABU and SAP found during the searches, described by *Glavcom* as containing a "plan of anti-crisis communication regarding the activities of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada".
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 19 Aug 2026, 11:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
Ukraine anti-corruption raids target Zelensky aide and MPs in 'Forest Gump' operation
Il Fatto Quotidiano — embedded from source
КолажВідкриті джерела
5 канал — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
6 rated outlets
- The five left-rated digests led on the raids targeting Iryna Mudra and Vadim Stolar. *Il Fatto Quotidiano* reported that the operation reached "fin dentro l’Ufficio presidenziale di Volodymyr Zelensky" and named Mudra’s role in managing Ukraine’s legal strategy on frozen Russian assets. The outlet also linked the raids to the broader political context, including protests over the dismissal of former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
- Meduza and *Zeit Online* both noted the timing of the raids, which coincided with the parliamentary vote on new ministerial appointments. *Zeit Online* described the operation as "new unrest" in Ukraine. *unn.ua* and *censor.net* focused on the confirmation of searches by Stolar and the involvement of current and former MPs.
- The only full report from the left, *Il Fatto Quotidiano*, quoted NABU and SAP’s description of the group as a "organizzazione criminale" and detailed Mudra’s career in finance and law before her political appointment. The report also mentioned the banned Opposition Platform, For Life party, from which Stolar was elected.
Centre
3 rated outlets
- The three centre-rated outlets led on the anti-corruption raids conducted by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). All named the operation "Forest Gump" and identified two key figures: Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Presidential Office, and lawmaker Vadym Stolar. Digi 24 reported that Mudra was dismissed by President Zelensky on the day of the raids.
- Digi 24’s report included details from NABU, stating the suspects were accused of laundering 150 million hryvnia (3.4 million dollars) linked to a separate corruption case. It also mentioned the discovery of a crisis communication plan related to a parliamentary inquiry. Neither El Confidencial nor Lietuvos Radijas ir Televizija carried these specifics in their digests.
- None of the centre-rated digests mentioned the involvement of a former lawmaker or the alleged role of a state bank’s executives, though Digi 24’s full report named Sense Bank and its leadership as part of the investigation. The digests did not include quotes from Ukrainian officials or independent sources.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Read it at the source
16 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
6- Ukraine: Searches of Ukrainian Deputies and Advisers to Selenskyi (opens Zeit Online in a new tab)
Zeit Online — is Zeit Online biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities raid homes of lawmakers, officials. Among them — Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the President’s Office. (opens Meduza in a new tab)
- Operation Forest Gump - What Is Known so Far (opens unn.ua in a new tab)
- I'm Taking Care of the Bureau's Representatives, the "Forrest Gump" Stolar. (opens censor.net in a new tab)
censor.net — is censor.net biased? Our profile of this outlet
- MP Honcharenko reports searches at Mudra's, Zhelezniak reports searches at MP Stolar's (opens Unknown in a new tab)
Unknown
- Ukraine Corruption, Searched Iryna Mudra Deputy Chief Office Zelensky (opens Il Fatto Quotidiano in a new tab)
Il Fatto Quotidiano — is Il Fatto Quotidiano biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
3- Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Agencies Launch an Operation Against Deputies and Senior Cabinet Officials in Zelenski (opens El Confidencial in a new tab)
El Confidencial — is El Confidencial biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Operation "Forest Gump: Searches of Parliamentarians and Officials in Zelenski's Administration. What Are the Investigators Following? (opens Digi 24 in a new tab)
- In Ukraine, There Are Searches of Deputies and Officials (opens Lietuvos Radijas ir Televizija in a new tab)
Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
7- The Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Investigates a Criminal Network that Would Also Involve Zelensky's Staff (opens Domani in a new tab)
Domani — is Domani biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Ukraine, searches in homes of Zelensky's staff and a deputy - JIJI PRESSUkraine, searches in homes of Zelensky's staff and a deputy (opens 時事ドットコム in a new tab)
時事ドットコム
- Operation “Forest Gump”. People's Deputy Stolar Announced NABU's Investigative Actions at His Home (opens Unknown in a new tab)
Unknown
- Large-Scale Searches of NABU and S Investigative Actions Take Place in Stolar, Mikitsya and Deputy Head of OP Mudroya (opens 5 канал in a new tab)
- Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Authorities Investigate MPs and Members of the Presidential Office (opens Česká televize in a new tab)
Česká televize — is Česká televize biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Operation “Forest Gump”. NABU Published Excerpts of Wiretaps, and Media Named Names of Likely Defendants Among Deputies and OP (Supplemented) (opens babel.ua in a new tab)
- Special Operation of NABU: Deputy Head of OP Mudroya and People's Deputy Stolar Are Being Searched (opens Unknown in a new tab)
Unknown
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Ukraine anti-corruption raids target Zelensky aide and MPs in 'Forest…?
- Of the 9 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 67% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 16. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Ukraine anti-corruption raids target Zelensky aide and MPs in 'Forest… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 9 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Ukraine anti-corruption raids target Zelensky aide and MPs in 'Forest… biased?
- Ukraine anti-corruption raids target Zelensky aide and MPs in 'Forest Gump' operation is one event reported by 16 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Ukraine anti-corruption raids target Zelensky aide and MPs in 'Forest…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Ukraine anti-corruption raids target Zelensky aide and MPs in 'Forest…?
- 16 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Who was searched in the 'Forest Gump' operation?
- Iryna Mudra, deputy head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, and former MP Vadim Stolar were among those searched. NABU and SAP also targeted current and former MPs, officials from the Presidential Office, and figures linked to the Ministry of Justice and Sense Bank. Both Mudra and Stolar confirmed the raids.
- What did NABU and SAP find during the searches?
- NABU and SAP published excerpts of wiretaps and named likely defendants in the case. *Glavcom* reported that investigators found a document outlining a plan for anti-crisis communication regarding a parliamentary investigative commission. The full contents of the document have not been disclosed.
- Why did the raids happen during a parliamentary vote?
- The raids coincided with a parliamentary session to vote on new defence and foreign ministers, part of a government reshuffle. Left-rated outlets, including *Il Fatto Quotidiano* and *Zeit Online*, noted the timing but did not establish a direct link between the two events.
- Which outlets reported the story?
- Five left-rated outlets carried digests of the story, and two left-rated outlets published full reports. No centre- or right-rated outlets in the sample below reported the raids. The left-rated reports emphasised the involvement of Zelensky’s office and the political context of the operation.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
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