Graft scandal rocks Ukraine’s leadership

In the frostbitten dawn of 10 November, 2025, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) launched “Operation Midas,” a sweeping raid targeting what investigators called a “high-level criminal organization” siphoning millions from the state-owned nuclear giant Energoatom.

Over 70 searches uncovered a shadow network demanding 10-15% kickbacks from contractors, laundering more than $100 million through offshore accounts and cash-stuffed bags.

Investigators seized and publicly released photographs of large quantities of cash discovered during searches related to the Energoatom kickback scheme. The money was presented in dramatic, evidentiary-style images typical of anti-corruption disclosures: thick, neatly banded bundles of banknotes laid out on tables or spilling from bags, evoking classic scenes of illicit wealth.

Specifically, the bundles included U.S. dollars, primarily crisp $100 bills wrapped tightly in plastic or bands, forming brick-like wads—some reports noted these as “bundles of US hundred-dollar bills wrapped in plastic” and euros, similarly bundled in high-value notes (e.g., €500 or €200), adding to the multi-currency haul.

Important: Seized cash still in Fed Reserve packaging (Atlanta & Kansas City marks).
Local law requires unpacking for state banks. Means it was stolen upon arrival in Ukraine – never reached the banks. pic.twitter.com/SkGaBjAHG4
— Diana Panchenko 🇺🇦 (@Panchenko_X) November 11, 2025

At the heart of the storm: Timur Mindich, a shadowy businessman and long-time associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who fled Ukraine hours before detectives stormed his Kyiv apartment.

Mindich, 46, wasn’t just any oligarch’s shadow. He was Zelenskyy’s pre-presidential business partner in Kvartal 95, the comedy studio that catapulted the actor to fame on Ihor Kolomoisky’s 1+1 channel. Their ties ran deep: shared Cypriot offshores like Green Family Ltd., neighboring luxury apartments on Hrushevskoho Street overlooking parliament, even Zelenskyy borrowing Mindich’s Mercedes during his 2019 campaign.

Kolomoisky himself once boasted that Mindich introduced him to Zelenskyy, calling him a “friend of the current leadership for 20 years.”

As Zelenskyy rose to power, Mindich’s influence ballooned. Journalists dubbed him the “curator” of appointments in energy and beyond: former Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko (now Justice Minister), whose home was also raided; Oleksiy Chernyshov, ex-Naftogaz head turned deputy prime minister; and others in ecology and agriculture.

NABU’s “Midas tapes”—1,000 hours of wiretaps from Mindich’s bugged apartment—revealed codenamed figures like “Karlson” (allegedly Mindich) and “Professor” (Galushchenko) orchestrating procurement rackets at Energoatom, Ukraine’s powerhouse generating over half the nation’s electricity amid Russian bombardments.

The scandal echoed louder against Zelenskyy’s own brushes with anti-graft watchdogs. Just four months earlier, in July 2025, he signed a bill stripping NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) of independence, granting the prosecutor general sweeping oversight.

Thousands protested in Kyiv, chanting “Hands off NABU!”—the first major wartime backlash against the president. International allies, including the EU, warned it jeopardized membership bids and aid.

Sources linked the move to NABU’s brewing probe into Mindich, with bugs planted in his flat uncovering schemes that threatened Zelenskyy’s inner circle.

Critics accused Zelenskyy of shielding associates.

Facing outrage, Zelenskyy U-turned, vowing to restore independence and submitting a reversal bill passed days later. Yet the damage lingered: protests exposed wartime fractures in his once-unassailable authority.

On 10 November, Zelenskyy addressed the nation, praising NABU’s “effective actions” and demanding “inevitability of punishment” for Energoatom schemers.

“Cleanliness in the company is a priority,” he insisted, urging cabinet cooperation.

Opposition pounced: Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity initiated no-confidence votes against the government, while others targeted ministers.

As Mindich reportedly hides in Austria or Israel, questions swirl: Was Zelenskyy complicit, or a victim of old ties? NABU’s independence – hard-won after July’s reversal – now tests Ukraine’s fragile anti-corruption resolve. With winter blackouts looming and Russian drones targeting grids, Energoatom’s integrity isn’t just fiscal; it’s existential.

With Reuters

Caption: Investigators seized and publicly released photographs of large quantities of cash discovered during searches related to the Energoatom kickback scheme.