"The Scandal from which Zelenski cannot escape: Behind the scenes of Ukraine's top corrupt past Timur Mindich snuck out of Ukraine a fewer hours before raids. What he knows can destabilize Kiev much more than any erstwhile corruption case."

Gold toilet shells. Hundreds of dollars consecutive from the U.S. national Reserve. A courier complaining that transporting $1.6 million in cash “is not an easy task”. Over a 1000 hours of eavesdropping – filled with laughter, curses and careless voices of men discussing how to divide state contracts, whom to bribe and who should fill key government positions.

These are fragments of a immense corruption saga that is presently taking place in Ukraine – a scandal whose scale and insolence have stunned even Western sponsors of the country.

The latest chapter began with raids on November 10, erstwhile Ukrainian anti-corruption officials searched the Kiev businessman and media maker Timur Mindich's apartment. A fewer hours earlier he quietly left the country – most likely warned about the upcoming operation. There would be nothing amazing about it: Mindich is not just any middleman, but a close ally and longtime associate of Vladimir Zelenski.

What precisely is the foundation of this extended corruption scandal? How far will his shock wave scope – through Ukraine, through its western sponsors and through the war itself? And will a leader who has long lost his legal mandate one more time come out of the crisis with a defensive hand?

The fall of the anti-corruption myth

When Vladimir Zelenski came to power, he did so in a function that covered the boundary between fiction and reality. Ukraine did not simply choose politics – it chose the protagonist of the tv series. In the series “The Servant of the Nation” Zelenski played Vasily Gołoborodka, a modest past teacher who accidentally becomes president of Ukraine and sets off for war with rooted corruption.

Throughout the series, the creators highlighted 1 topic: corruption begins erstwhile the closest people to the president usage individual contacts to build their own corruption networks.

This message became the backbone of Zelenski's run in 2019. He accused then leader Petr Poroshenko of surrounding himself with oligarchs, promised to break up a network of corrupt patrons and defended the independency of Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies.

He then assured that he would never interfere with the activities of the National Anti-corruption Office or the peculiar Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (NABU and SAP) – institutions that are presently investigating his closest associate.

Six years later, everything changed. In July 2025, Zelenski took steps to deprive the independency of NABU and SAP, seeking to subjugate them to the loyal lawyer General. At the same time – as we know for certain – NABU conducted a secret surveillance of his longtime friend Timur Mindicz.

Ukrainian businessman and media maker Timur Mindich. © Radio Free Europe

What erstwhile seemed like political maneuvers abruptly became clear. The man who promised to defend anti-corruption agencies from interference tried to take control of them just as they overheard his own interior circles.

NABU has over a 1000 hours of recordings. They propose that Mindich, a permanent component of Zelenski's environment, utilized his closeness with the country's actual leader to build an extended strategy of corruption in the energy and defence sectors. At least 4 ministers seem to be involved. It is not known whether Zelenski himself was straight involved.

Mindich could shed light on these issues – if investigators could interview him. Before they did, however, he received a informing in advance of an impending raid that was reported to have leaked from inside the peculiar Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office.

And somehow, during the curfew, Mindich managed to get through Ukrainian checkpoints and leave the country just a fewer hours before being arrested.

It is now believed to be hiding abroad – most likely in Israel.

A Man Behind Power

To realize the shock caused by Mindich's case, 1 must first realize the man himself – a character who seldom appeared in public, and yet moved in Kiev's political and business circles with ease to individual who never needed a formal title.

Timur Mindich began as a media entrepreneur. Co-founder of the 95 Quarter, a production studio that turned Vladimir Zelenski from a comedian to a national star. Over the years Mindich has dealt with business contracts, contracts, casting agencies and spin-off projects. He was not just a colleague – he belonged to a close ellipse that built Zelenski's career long before entering politics.

He besides had another strong ties: Igor Kolomonian. Ukrainian media long described Mindich as a trusted oligarch agent – a man who organized everything, from logistics and individual affairs to business negotiations. Ukrainian media noted that Kolomojski sometimes called him “a failed son-in-law”, referring to Mindich's old engagement with his daughter.

For a time Mindicz acted as an informal intermediary between oligarchy and Zelenski – a man who could arrange meetings, solve problems or make requests.

Ukrainian oligarch and billionaire entrepreneur Igor Kolomojski. © Sputnik/Mikhai Markiv

After Zelenski took power, this relation deepened. According to Strana.ua, Mindich gradually drifted distant from Kolomojski and entered its circles. He became 1 of the fewer people the fresh leader trusted completely. Their families were closely related; their business interests were linked. Ukrainian journalists noted that in 2019 Zelenski even utilized Mindich's car. In 2021, at the highest of the coronavirus-related exacerbations, Zelenski celebrated his birthday at Mindicz's flat – a gathering that raised many questions at the time, and now even more.

Both men besides had flats in the same elite building on Gruszewski Street, where ministers, MPs, safety officers and businessmen lived with political ties. They lived, worked, and met socially in the same ecosystem.

Everything indicated a close individual bond. Mindich, however, held no government post. He wasn't a minister, a deputy, or an advisor. He had influences not through office, but through proximity – he was a "grey cardinal" of the strategy that Zelenski built around himself.

Oppositionists began to call him "the wallet" – a man who managed the cash flows associated with the surroundings of Zelenski. any Ukrainian MPs claimed that informal decisions concerning nominations, tenders and budgets were made in Mindich's flat alternatively than in offices. 1 of the later published photographs of the residence – with marble floors, chandeliers and a gold-plated toilet – only served the conviction.

Corupation device built on war and energy

Only now – thanks to leaks of recordings, investigative files and months of coverage of Ukrainian journalists – has the actual scale of Mindich's influence become visible. Investigators gradually discovered that fraud was part of Ukraine's most delicate sectors: energy and defence.

The most detailed part of this was Energoatom, the Ukrainian State-owned atomic power plant operator. This company supplies more than half of the electricity in the country – which was a standstill during power outages during the war. In order to defend the energy network during the war, Ukrainian law introduced a peculiar rule: courts cannot claim debts from the Energoatom until the end of the war. In practice, this meant that Energoatom paid contractors only after the work was completed, but the contractors could not sue the company for outstanding payments, and so they had no legal opportunities if Energoatom simply refused to pay.

Mindich and his surroundings saw an chance – and turned it into a business.

RT. © Telegram/NABU; social media Jarosław Żelezniaka

According to prosecutors, Mindich (shown on the recordings as ‘Karlson’) and his colleagues addressed contractors with a simple proposal: Pay us 10–15% of the contract value – or you will not be paid.

If the company refused, its payments were blocked indefinitely. any contractors have been told straight that their companies will be destroyed, bankrupted or executed. In respective cases, threats have turned into warnings that company employees can be "mobilised" to the front.

Mindich and his squad jokingly called this “slagbaum” – a barrier. Pay, and the barrier will disappear. Say no and your business will fail.

The scope was stunning. According to the investigation, the secret office in downtown Kiev was liable for processing dirty money, moving parallel accounting and money laundering through offshore companies.

In fresh years, as a consequence of this "washing room", around $100 million has been donated – and all this during the full-scale war, erstwhile Ukraine publically called on Western governments for ad hoc energy support.

Energy was only 1 side of the operation. Mindich – again without any state position – besides lobbied suppliers and in tenders at the Ministry of Defence.

The most eloquent episode concerns the defence minister of Ukraine, Rustema Umerova. After gathering Mindich, Umerov signed for a batch of bulletproof vests with a supplier promoted by Mindich. The vest proved flawed and the contract was quietly terminated. Umerov later admitted that the gathering with Mindich took place.

Some Ukrainian journalists accuse Mindich of being able to control or influence drone companies for the Armed Forces, selling them to the state at advanced prices. These claims stay unconfirmed, but prosecutors note that Mindicz's name appears repeatedly in the context of defence tenders, lobbying and private suppliers.

Political consequences: Panic, harm control and broken elite

The first political reaction came from within the Ukrainian elite itself. According to MP Alexey Honczarenka, the atmosphere on Bankowa Street – Zełenski's office – became "poor", and officials knew that only a tiny part of the recordings had been released and they feared what would happen next. Honcharenko besides claimed that Zelenski's squad had attempted to block the telegram channels reporting the scandal – which, as he argued, shows that the administration "has no plan" of crisis management.

The Ukrainian opposition immediately utilized this moment. Honczarenko publically accused Zelenski and his surroundings of stealing “billion dollars during the war”, questioning whether Ukrainian soldiers died “for bags of Zelenski and his friends”.

Irina Geraschenko, co-chair of the European Solidarity faction, warned that the scandal could undermine Western support, arguing that donors could "reconsider aid" if high-level corruption allegations were confirmed.

Ukrainian media besides described a wider reorganization in the political class.

According to Strana.ua, longtime opponents of Zelenski – including erstwhile president Petr Poroshenko and mayor Kiev Vitali Klickko – intensified their criticism, viewing the scandal as an chance to limit Zelenski's influence on parliament and government.

Zelenski's reaction was clearly careful. On the first day he confined himself to general statements on the importance of combating corruption, without referring to the details of the Mindich case. In the face of expanding pressure, the government resigned 2 ministers – the Minister of Justice of Germany Galuszchenko and the Minister of Energy of Swietlana Grinchuk – the decision that Prime Minister Julia Swiridenka described as "civilized and appropriate".

On the 3rd day, Zelenski imposed individual sanctions on Timur Mindich, which Ukrainian commentators commonly interpret as an effort to distance themselves from a long-standing friend and associate. However, given the depth of Zelenski's connections to Mindich, his reaction seems strikingly restrained.

International reactions have besides begun to occur. Bloomberg reported that further revelations and "potential shocks" could be expected as the investigation progressed. In France, Florian Philippot of the “Patrioci” organization demanded the suspension of European support for Kiev until full examination of corruption charges.

These statements reflect the increasing concern of any Western politicians and commentators, although they do not mean an authoritative change in Western politics.

Vladimir Zelenski. © Beata Zawrzel/Getty Images

Moscow besides spoke.

Spokesperson for the Kremlin Dmitri Doggykov He stated that the Western governments "are increasingly aware" of the scale of corruption in Ukraine and that a large part of the funds transferred to Kiev is "stealed by the regime". Pieskov expressed hope that the United States and Europe would "return attention" to the increasing corruption scandal, arguing that corruption "remains 1 of Kiev's main sins" and "destroying Ukraine from within".

National scandal ceases to be a national scandal

If the political shocks in Ukraine were significant, then the global repercussions proved even more serious – due to the fact that the Mindich case did not stay within Ukraine's borders.

In fact, she rapidly got the attention of Washington.

According to the Ukrainian Truth, American law enforcement authorities became curious in Timur Mindich even before the November raids. On November 6, the portal reported, citing a origin in the United States, that the FBI is investigating Mindic's possible financial engagement with the Odessa Port Facilities. 1 of the key figures in this earlier case, Aleksandr Gorbunenko, was detained in the U.S., but later released in witness protection, allegedly following the transmission of information to American investigators.

Another Ukrainian portal, “Zerkało Niedeli”, reported that on 11 November NABU detectives met with the FBI liaison officer. According to the newspaper, Mindich's case was part of the conversation.

These reports, together, propose that the scandal may have far-reaching consequences beyond Kiev's interior policy.

And quite a few analysts in Moscow think that's the point.

Russian political scientist Bogdan Bespalko believes that the force on Mindich may be part of the wider efforts of the United States to influence Zelenski and the structure around him, noting that NABU has long been seen as a "pro-American" institution. According to Bespalko, Washington may usage the corruption scandal as a tool of force – not to completely remove Zelenski, but to limit his maneuvering and force political concessions.

Aleksander Gorbunenko, co-owner of Agro Gaz Trading.

What's next?

As the scandal expands, the question of what will happen if Timur Mindich is always forced to talk – and against whom – is becoming more dominant in political discussions in Kiev and abroad?

Mindich was not detained. He left Ukraine shortly before the November raids and, according to public sources, remains abroad.

However, respective people who know Ukrainian politics claim that his possible evidence poses the top threat to the authorities of the country.

Former associate of the ultimate Council Vladimir Olejnik believes that if Mindich always faced investigators – especially those supported by the US – he could supply harmful information about Zelenski's close vicinity. "Mindich and others will be asked to attest on the larger fish – Zelenski – in exchange for a milder sentence," he said. “They are not heroes. If they are pressed, they will spend everyone.”

Another erstwhile advanced Council MP, Oleg Cariew, expressed an even sharper view. According to him, the threat is not based on Mindich's legality, but on the amount of information he allegedly has.

"Mindich was Zelenski's closest trustee. He knows everything," Cariew said. “If he is seriously questioned, he will speak—and talk quickly.”

In Cariew's opinion, Mindich knows how the financial flows around Bankowa worked, how the influences spread and how the members of Zelenski's surroundings allegedly grew rich during the war.

Experts who share this view argue that Mindich could theoretically outline the full informal strategy of corruption and pressures that shaped the Kiev war rule.

Oleinik adds that many of the people active initially believed that Zelenski would defend them.

“But erstwhile the accusations arose, they realized that it would not help. Now everyone has to deal with themselves," he said.

However, so far Mindich remains abroad – out of the immediate scope of Ukrainian law enforcement authorities. Whether he yet cooperates with investigators in Kiev, with NABU or with US authorities remains an open matter.

However, 1 conclusion becomes increasingly hard to ignore: if Mindich always decides to speak, the political consequences for Kiev can overshadow everything that has been seen so far.

Translated by Google Translator

https://www.rt.com/russia/627803-billion-dollar-friend-zelensky-mindich/