A Dark Shadow of Corruption Falls Over a Darkened Ukraine
As Russian missiles plunge cities into darkness, Operation Midas exposes a network of kickbacks reaching deep into President Zelensky’s inner circle — threatening to erode trust at home and abroad
Even as Russian attacks cripple Ukraine’s energy grid, a sweeping corruption scandal is sending political shockwaves through Kyiv. Prosecutors allege multimillion-dollar kickbacks were arranged to protect energy facilities under fire, in an investigation known as Operation Midas.
At its center is Tymur Mindich, a former business partner of President Volodymyr Zelensky and co-owner of Kvartal 95, the comedy troupe that helped launch the president’s rise to fame. Mindich reportedly fled Ukraine shortly before police raids — apparently tipped off that anti-corruption agents were closing in.
Others implicated include suspended justice minister Herman Halushchenko, former defense chief Rustem Umerov, and several senior officials. Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk tendered her resignation, following a call by Zelenskyy for her to go.
The probe is being led by the same anti-corruption bodies Zelensky sought to muzzle only months ago — a move that sparked the largest street protests since Russia’s full-scale invasion and forced him to back down.
The scandal has already triggered alarm among Ukraine’s Western partners and will likely embolden opponents of continued aid to Kyiv. Today, Zelensky imposed sanctions on Mindich, according to a decree, but this is likely to do little to silence critics and opposition members.
According to POLITICO, defense procurement corruption is also under investigation and, according to sources who asked not to be identified, more raids will take place shortly on the Ukrainian defense ministry as part of a probe into inflated contracts.
Indeed, dark days for Ukraine - in more ways than one. The reflections of a woman from Lviv (see video below) on corruption at the highest levels of Ukrainian society capture the weary mood of a nation battered by nearly four years of war, tens of thousands of deaths, and massive displacement.
Even amid war, Ukraine’s fight for integrity remains far from over.
(*** Tune into CNN International tomorrow - Friday - at approximately the following times for more hot take analysis from me on this widening corruption scandal in Ukraine. 8am London; 9am Brussels; 10am Kyiv; 3pm Bangkok; 4pm Hong Kong)
Ukraine has been rocked by a corruption scandal in which suspects allegedly discussed millions of dollars worth of kickbacks on protection for energy plants, even as Russian bombs raining down on them plunged citizens into cold and darkness. But it’s not only the allegations that are explosive. The cast list includes people at the highest levels of government centered around a longstanding close collaborator of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself. Worse still, the investigation has been carried out by anti-corruption institutions that Zelenskyy tried to muzzle before the biggest street protests since Russia’s full-scale invasion forced him to back down in the summer. Several people have been implicated in Operation Midas, an ongoing investigation. The alleged ringleader is Tymur Mindich, a co-owner of the Kvartal 95 comedy troupe that Zelenskyy also co-owned before he became president. The business was an important vehicle for Zelenskyy to gain popularity as a comedian and actor before entering politics. Mindich, 46, was also a business partner with billionaire Ihor Kolomoyskiy, who backed Zelenskyy’s 2019 presidential campaign and who has been in pretrial detention since 2023 on fraud and money-laundering charges. Law enforcement sources said Mindich left Ukraine shortly before his home was searched by police on November 10. He has not commented on the case. Viktor Chumak, chief military prosecutor in 2019-20 and acting prosecutor-general in 2020, told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service “it is absolutely impossible, unless you are helped by law enforcement officers” to exit the country quickly amid Ukraine’s wartime travel restrictions. Another high-profile figure involved in the case is Herman Halushchenko, who was suspended from his position of justice minister on November 12. He previously served as energy minister. Halushchenko said he would defend himself in court from claims he had received “personal benefits” from Mindich in the alleged kickback scheme. Former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who is currently secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, and former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, are also implicated in the case. On November 12, Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk tendered her resignation, following a call by Zelenskyy for her to go. She insisted she had not broken the law. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the scandal “extremely unfortunate,” adding that it was important Kyiv takes it seriously. As noted, the allegations run extremely close to Zelensky - RFE/RL
Ukrainian forces withdrew from several villages in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to the Southern Defence Forces. Kyiv troops retreated from Rivnopillia to “defensible positions to safeguard the lives of their personnel,” the military command said, adding that the advance of the Russian forces in this sector has been halted amid ongoing heavy fighting along the line. In the Oleksandrivka and Huliaipole sectors, the Russian army continues mass strikes and has stepped up assault operations near the settlements of Pryvilne, Zelenyi Hai, Rivnopillia, Pavlivka, Vorone, Stepove and Novopavlivske. Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Tuesday that the situation has “significantly worsened” in eastern parts of the region amid fierce fighting with Russian forces - Euronews
“All of this is very bad timing just as Brussels has to decide on more funding for Kyiv. This is causing the Ukrainians tremendous problems in terms of convincing Western allies to continue funding. And it’s ammunition for those in the MAGA crowd and those in Central Europe, the Hungarians for example, to say, ‘Why are we doing this?’” - a foreign adviser to the Ukrainian government
Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein wrote an email to Trump biographer Michael Wolff saying Donald Trump “knew about the girls” - without further clarification - according to newly released messages. House Democrats have released emails they say raise fresh questions about Trump’s ties to Epstein and how much he knew about Epstein’s abuse of underage girls. Republicans published 20,000 more documents in response to the emails between Epstein, Wolff, and Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite serving a 20-year prison sentence over her role in facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking. In one of those emails, from 2019, Epstein said Trump “came to my house many times” and “never got a massage.” Another 2011 message to Maxwell from Epstein described Trump as “that dog that hasn’t barked,” adding Trump had “spent hours at my house” with one of his victims, whose name is redacted. In one exchange, Epstein refers to a 20-year-old girlfriend whom he “gave to Donald” in 1993, and talks about photos of “Donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen,” though it is not clear whether he is joking. “These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong,” the White House said yesterday. Trump has vehemently and consistently denied knowing about Epstein’s sex trafficking. He has said that he and Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019, were once friends before having a falling out. Trump accused Democrats of releasing the emails to distract from a record 43-day shutdown of the government. Democratic Representative Adelita Grijalva was sworn in by House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson yesterday, providing a majority to force a House vote to release all unclassified records related to Epstein. Johnson and Trump have been resisting a vote up until now. Johnson’s office said the House would hold it next week - Sky News
President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill that ends a record 43-day shutdown. The disruption caused financial stress for federal workers who went without paychecks, stranded scores of travelers at airports and generated long lines at some food banks - Newsweek
US strikes against alleged drug traffickers in South America are putting key global security alliances at risk. Colombia — where most US-bound cocaine is produced — said it would stop sharing intelligence with Washington over what Bogotá called human rights abuses against “the Caribbean people.” The UK too said it would pause some intelligence sharing with the US over the strikes, and France warned that the buildup risked violating international law. Critics, including Republican members of Congress, say the attacks, which have killed dozens, are illegal. Despite the diplomatic ruptures, Washington, which sent its largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, said it is committed to its “armed conflict” with traffickers in South America - Semafor
The world is still on track for a catastrophic 2.6C increase in temperature as countries have not made sufficiently strong climate pledges, while emissions from fossil fuels have hit a record high, two major reports have found. Despite their promises, governments’ new emission-cutting plans submitted for the Cop30 climate talks taking place in Brazil have done little to avert dangerous global heating for the fourth consecutive year, according to the Climate Action Tracker update. The world is now anticipated to heat up by 2.6C above preindustrial times by the end of the century – the same temperature rise forecast last year. This level of heating easily breaches the thresholds set out in the Paris climate pact, which every country agreed to, and would set the world spiralling into a catastrophic new era of extreme weather and severe hardships. A separate report found the fossil fuel emissions driving the climate crisis will rise by about 1% this year to hit a record high, but that the rate of rise has more than halved in recent years. The past decade has seen emissions from coal, oil and gas rise by 0.8% a year compared with 2.0% a year during the decade before. The accelerating rollout of renewable energy is now close to supplying the annual rise in the world’s demand for energy, but has yet to surpass it. “A world at 2.6C means global disaster,” said Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics. A world this hot would probably trigger major “tipping points” that would cause the collapse of key Atlantic Ocean circulation, the loss of coral reefs, the long-term deterioration of ice sheets and the conversion of the Amazon rainforest to a savannah. “That all means the end of agriculture in the UK and across Europe, drought and monsoon failure in Asia and Africa, lethal heat and humidity,” said Hare. “This is not a good place to be. You want to stay away from that.” - The Guardian
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should rethink its principle of non-interference so that the long-held policy does not become “an excuse” for non-action, Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow has said. The minister, a career diplomat who served in a range of leadership positions before his latest appointment in September, said the 11-member bloc had to embrace a fresh approach to consensus-building amid intensifying rivalry between China and the United States. “We have to be agile. We have to draw on the strength that we have … First of all, we’re not taking sides for sure,” Sihasak said, on balancing his country’s relations between Beijing and Washington. “We have to be strategically important to both superpowers.” - SCMP
The journals……
