President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed deputy head of the presidential office Iryna Mudra on Wednesday, publishing the decree on the presidential website with no reason given. Hours earlier, Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies announced they had uncovered a money-laundering group that included a senior presidential official, though they named no names. The timing speaks for itself. The same day, Ukraine's parliament approved Zelenskyy's picks for foreign and defence ministers — Andrii Sybiha and Yevhen Khmara — despite controversy around the appointments and public comments from the popular previous defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov. Zelenskyy responded immediately: "Ukraine needs more strength. And it will have it." Meanwhile, a Ukrainian trained scuba diver identified as Vladimir Z — understood to be Volodymyr Zhuravlev — was arrested in the Croatian town of Pula in connection with the September 2022 Nord Stream pipeline bombings. Germany will seek extradition to the federal court in Karlsruhe. This is the man's second arrest; Poland released him last year after a court refused to execute a European arrest warrant. A second suspect, Serhiy K, was arrested in Italy last August and extradited to Germany in November. The Nord Stream case underscores an uncomfortable reality: Germany is prosecuting Ukrainian nationals for sabotaging Russian gas infrastructure while simultaneously providing Kyiv with military aid. Berlin's determination to bring Zhuravlev to trial — after Poland's refusal — signals that legal accountability will not be quietly shelved for diplomatic convenience. On the economic front, German 10- and 30-year borrowing costs hit fresh 15-year highs. The Finance Ministry attributed the spike to the security situation created by Russia's aggression and the need for massive defence investment. Bond yields across the US and Japan have also climbed to multi-decade highs this week, driven by ballooning government debt and geopolitics — raising borrowing costs for companies and households across Western economies. Inside Russia, Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries are producing tangible results. Fuel stations in Moscow reimposed purchase limits: Gazprom Neft capped gasoline at 40-60 litres per customer, Rosneft at 30 litres nationwide. Lukoil introduced restrictions in Moscow citing elevated demand and unscheduled refinery maintenance. The asymmetry is notable — Ukraine's drone campaign is creating consumer-level fuel rationing in Russia's capital. Separately, Ukraine and Russia exchanged 103 prisoners of war each, and top EU officials declared they "stand firmly" with the ICC president after the US sanctioned ICC president Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye for pursuing cases against officials whose governments have not consented to ICC jurisdiction.
