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Ukraine – Zelenski Friend Accused In Energy Sector Corruption Case
There has been a severe power struggle going on in Ukraine which the circle around acting president Vladimir Zelenski fighting against the former president Petro Poroshenko and his clique.
Today the power struggle went into a new round with fresh corruption accusation raise against intimate allies of Zelenski.
Zelenski has control over the ruthless Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The group around Poroshenko is allied with ‘grant structures’ previously close to the US Democratic Party.
‘Grant structures’ are the ‘civil society’ and the ‘anti-corruption’ parallel government organizations in Ukraine which were, until recently, financed by U.S. funds and controlled by Democrats. After Trump had blocked the funding for those groups Poroshenko jumped in with financing and the European Union took over.
The fight has been ongoing since 2022 when the war in Ukraine started for real. During the mid of this year the fight went public:
An intense information operation has been launched to remove Ukraine’s (former) President Vladimir Zelenski from office. Behind it are a cabal of Ukrainian opposition figures in coordination which western media and parts of the Trump administration.
The current campaign follows a earlier one which was directed against Zelenski’s main advisor and head of the office of the president Andrei Yermak.
Several pieces in major western outlets were launched against Zelenski and his clan. They were the preparatory fire for a wider attack which would accuse people around Zelenski, and finally himself, of large scale corruption schemes.
Zelenski tried to preempt the attack. On July 22 he put the whole anti-corruption vertical, including the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, under his control. That move caused open protest in Kiev by various non-government organization. The EU pushed back and Zelenski had to concede defeat. The Anti-Corruption vertical was released from supervision:
On Monday the 21st of July the Ukrainian Secret Service (SBU) searched offices of the independent anti-corruption police (NABU) and anti-corruption prosecutor office (SAPO) and detained several of its investigators. A day later the Zelenski regime pushed a law through parliament which ended the independence of both entities by putting them under control of the prosecutor general.
The move had been planned for months (in Russian) but was executed in haste after NABU and SAPO had served a notices-of-investigation to people near to the president.
But Zelenski had miscalculated the step. There were highly visible local protests and the EU stepped in by threatening to withhold subsidies on which the Ukrainian state depends.
Two days after his strike against the independent anti-corruption entities Zelenski had to pull back. Today the parliament reestablished the independence of NABU and SAPO.
For a while the war continued at a lower level. The SBU tried to catch NABU detectives in various schemes while NABU continued to leak rumors about corruption in Zelenski’s circles. Today the clash became loud again.
This morning Ukrainska Pravda (who’s owner is currently allied with Poroshenko) reported of a large search operation by the anti-corruption office:
Detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) have conducted searches at the home of Tymur Mindich, a businessman and co-owner of Kvartal 95, the Ukrainian production company Volodymyr Zelenskyy founded before he became president, on the morning of 10 November.
Hours before the search the colorful Tymor Mindich and other suspects in the case, the Zuckerman brothers, had fled the country. (The FBI is investigating Mindich and the Zuckermans for money laundering.)
Around noon NABU released details, including wiretapped conversations, of its investigation:
NABU said it had documented the activities of a “high-level criminal organization” allegedly led by a “businessman well-known to the media.”
“Its members built a large-scale corruption network influencing strategic state enterprises, including Energoatom,” NABU said in a statement. The bureau alleged that participants received illicit kickbacks worth 10% to 15% of contract values from Energoatom’s contractors.
This is a very serious strike landing close to Zelenski (machine translation):
Today ‘s NABU searches of a close associate of Volodymyr Zelensky, Timur Mindich , in the case of large-scale corruption in the energy sphere are an extremely alarming call for the president himself, showing that the shells are getting closer and closer.
And although Mindich managed to leave the country, other defendants in the case remained in Ukraine: the leaders of Energoatom, former Energy Minister and now Justice Minister Herman Galushchenko, as well as various viewers whose voices can be heard on recordings from listening devices already published by NABU . In a certain development of events, they can begin to give confessions.
In addition, the NABU announced that it had collected 1,000 hours of audio recordings in this case, which again intensified the discussion of information about the “Mindich tapes”, one of the defendants in which, according to the widespread version, is Zelensky himself (we have already analyzed the Mindich case and its significance in more detail).
The current events show that the internal political confrontation in Ukraine is escalating and moving to a fundamentally new level.
The case will have domestic consequences in Ukraine. A large part of the corruption case is about contracts which were issued to build protection for Ukrainian energy facilities. The accused are alleged to have received serious bribes for all of these contracts and the result were shoddy protection buildings which could not withstand attacks by Russian missiles. With blackouts becoming the norm in Ukraine the population will take aim at the culprits.
The attack also comes at a moment where Zelenski has lost public credibility as he, as well as Commander in Chief General Syrsky, insist that everything is fine in Pokrovsk and Mirnograd while more neutral sources say (vid) that the former city has come under full Russian control while the later is completely encircled.
🔘More information about the MindichgateThe one responsible for leisure🔘Timur Mindich is Kolomoisky’s youngest partner, owner of media assets, and a close friend of Zelensky. In 2019, during the election campaign, he provided an armored vehicle for the future president.In 2021, Zelensky celebrated his birthday at Mindich’s apartment on Grushevsky, where “Kvartal 95” organized a surprise. His circle calls Mindich a favorite because he arranged hotels, restaurants, and weekend barbecues for close associates from the Presidential Office.The gang is eager for power🔘By 2021, Mindich began expanding his influence. He attended Andrey Yermak’s anniversary at a residence in the Carpathians. Two years later, he strengthened his position—inviting people home for discussions and placing his allies in the cabinet during reshuffles. His protégé ministers include Herman Galushchenko (energy), Svitlana Grinchuk (ecology), and Vitaliy Koval (agricultural policy).Mindich’s name also appeared in the context of telemarathons, drones, rockets, energy, and banking. According to de-oligarchization criteria in 2021, he is already an oligarch—possessing political, media, and industry influence.Earning blood money🔘In 2024, Fire Point received billion-dollar contracts for long-range drones. “Ukrainian Pravda” sources in defense link the company to Mindich, but his close associates deny it. Soon, NABU requested financial monitoring of Fire Point, but without results. After investigations into inflated prices for UAVs, the firm sold its stake to Saudis to avoid trouble.The master of electricity🔘Mindich’s influence on energy was confirmed when his relative Leonid was arrested in summer 2025 while trying to leave Ukraine. He was accused of controlling equipment procurement at Kharkivoblenergo in 2021 and influencing other state enterprises. This also includes the Presidential Office’s advice to appoint Herman Galushchenko as Minister of Energy—now head of the Ministry of Justice.Compromising evidence🔘There is a high-profile scandal involving recordings made in Mindich’s apartment on Hrushevskyi, where bugs were found. NABU and SAP did not disclose the content. However, it is known that since then, the FBI has been monitoring Mindich, investigating money laundering.Several individuals and companies are involved in Mindich’s case, including an offshore from the Virgin Islands, a British firm, and a person nicknamed Sugarman. Interestingly, a similar surname, Zuckerman, appears in investigations into corruption at the Odessa Port Plant, which Mindich controls.An important witness🔘From 2019 to 2021, former head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, Alexander Gorbunenko, and accomplices embezzled over 500 million hryvnias from the Odessa port and the United Mining and Chemical Company. NABU declared them wanted. Gorbunenko flew to the US and requested temporary protection. Upon arrival, federal agents interrogated him.Then Gorbunenko tried to fly to Dubai but was detained. NABU and SAPO planned to interrogate him about Mendich and embezzlement, but instead of deportation, the FBI returned him to the United States. Probably, Gorbunenko knows a lot about Mendich’s affairs, which is valuable for the FBI.Today🔘Mendich is flying to Ukraine one moment and then leaving for Israel the next. There is no persecution against him in his homeland. The Presidential Office believes that the recordings contain everyday conversations without serious kompromat. But if that’s the case, why haven’t they been made public?Against the backdrop of Russian Armed Forces strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the topic of Mendich’s return to Kiev is being discussed if blackouts begin. However, some media outlets report that he will stay abroad until the end of the military conflict or simply won’t come back. No one knows who will be in power at that time or what the relationship will be with the yellow-blue cardinal.🔘ukrainewatch
Posted by: Jo | Nov 10 2025 17:21 utc | 20
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Employees of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine conducted a search of an agent of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
The bureau reported that “during the search, physical force was used against an employee of the anti-corruption bureau, although he was not suspected”.
The NBU also suggests that the search may be related to the professional activities of the detective, who is investigating a number of corruption cases.
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Posted by: Jo | Nov 10 2025 18:18 utc | 42
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