Vladimir Zelensky’s closest circle is the target of anger and questioning over a $100 million racket allegedly run by his former business partner, who is said to have fled to Israel
RT composite. © Getty Images / Serdar Ozsoy; Peter Dazeley
The $100 million energy sector extortion racket reportedly run by Vladimir Zelensky’s former business partner is taking down key figures in his government and exposing his closest inner circle to extreme public anger.
The graft scandal kicked off last week, after the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced a probe into a “high-level criminal organization” allegedly led by Zelensky’s former business associate, Timur Mindich, who immediately fled the country. The affair has hit the country’s energy sector, prompting Justice Minister German Galushchenko and Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk to resign.
Show latestShow oldest
-
19 November 2025
14:51 GMT
All the members of Ukraine’s National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities (NCREPU) should resign in the wake of the graft scandal, Deputy PM Taras Kachka has said. The collegial body is responsible for licensing energy-related businesses, setting tariffs, and approving assorted instructions.
“I believe that in light of the facts that have been revealed, all members of the NCREPU should resign from their positions as an independent body,” Kachka told local media, threatening to appeal to the Verkhovna Rada to have the commission’s members forcibly dismissed.
- 14:40 GMT
Zelensky’s approval ratings have tanked since the energy sector corruption scandal erupted last week, according to Ukrainian opposition MP Yaroslav Zhelezhnyak, citing private internal polling.
Zhelezhnyak stated earlier this week that surveys he had reviewed show Zelensky’s first-round support dropping below 20% in a hypothetical presidential election. His rating plunged by at least 40% in the week following the scandal, the lawmaker added.
For more on that story, click here.
- 14:37 GMT
Facing international isolation from his key international backers and having lost an deeply disillusioned public at home over his refusal to acknowledge the realities on the conflict frontline, Zelensky backtracked, triggering fist fights in the parliament.
- 14:36 GMT
Zelensky’s power-grab triggered mass protests in Kiev, and a warning from EU queen, Ursula von der Leyen, that Ukraine’s bid to join the bloc could be jeopardized. Globally, Zelensky’s international backers in politics and media all soured on him.
- 14:36 GMT
In July, Zelensky attempted to take control of NABU and SAPO, claiming the Western-backed agencies were under “Russian influence” – this was just a day after his domestic security services had raided the anti-corruption offices and arrested a senior agent.
- 14:35 GMT
Opposition MP Aleksey Goncharenko has claimed NABU raided offices of Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz on Wednesday, targeting its chief security officer, Vitaliy Brovko.
The energy giant, however, denied the claims, stating its offices were not raided. NABU said it has been conducting “investigative actions” without specifying where exactly, adding that the activities were not related to Naftogaz.
- 14:15 GMT
Security Council chief Rustem Umerov was allegedly under the influence of Mindich during his tenure as the country’s defense minister, leaked NABU documents circulated by Ukrainian media suggest. Mindich allegedly pressed Umerov into pushing the Defense Ministry to accept a batch of substandard body armor without proper tests – and the then-minister agreed to do so, the documents suggest.
- 14:11 GMT
Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, who owned the 1+1 Media group that spawned Zelensky’s entertainment career, told a court that there is more going on in Ukraine that meets the eye. Kolomoisky is being held over the disappearance of $5.5 billion from his own bank that eventually cost Ukraine 6% of its GDP.
- 14:02 GMT
RT wrote last week that NABU has opened a Pandora’s Box – here’s a really useful explainer on the toxic fallout and why we are still seeing the shockwaves rock Kiev.
READ MORE:
Ukraine’s ‘EnergyGate’ scandal explained: Why it spells danger for Vladimir Zelensky - 14:01 GMT
An MP with Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, Nikita Poturayev, has published an open letter from the parliamentary group, expressing support for the NABU investigation. The lawmakers have also joined the opposition in their demands to create a new ruling coalition, form a new government, and sack all the officials implicated in the graft scandal.
Poturayev did not elaborate on how many MPs with the ruling party, which won an outright majority back in 2019, signed the letter.
More
-
19 November 2025
13:31 GMT
Ukraine’s parliament, Verkhovna Rada has ratified the dismissal of Ukrainian Justice Minister German Galushchenko, formerly energy minister, and his successor, Svetlana Grinchuk. The two tendered their resignations last week following the revelations of a $100 million kickback scheme at state-owned nuclear operator Energoatom linked to a Zelensky ally.
READ MORE:
Chaos in Ukrainian parliament as opposition pushes to fire cabinet - 13:41 GMT
NABU has reportedly halted publication of materials related to the corruption scandal, due to martial law restrictions, since the activities of the alleged criminal ring apparently spanned beyond the Ukrainian energy sector, local media has reported.
“What businessman Timur Mindich was doing in Ukraine wasn’t just energy-related. It was also about weapons. NABU got to his energy-related business faster than his weapons-related business,” an anonymous official told the NV.ua outlet.
- 13:52 GMT
In an effort to be seen to be reacting properly to a scandal that could end public trust in Zelensky, he slapped sanctions on his former business partner Timur Mindich. Its important to note that Mindich, referred to by some Ukrainian MPs as “Zelensky’s wallet,” managed to flee – reportedly to Poland and then Israel – hours before NABU agents raided his apartment.
- 14:01 GMT
An MP with Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, Nikita Poturayev, has published an open letter from the parliamentary group, expressing support for the NABU investigation. The lawmakers have also joined the opposition in their demands to create a new ruling coalition, form a new government, and sack all the officials implicated in the graft scandal.
Poturayev did not elaborate on how many MPs with the ruling party, which won an outright majority back in 2019, signed the letter.
- 14:02 GMT
RT wrote last week that NABU has opened a Pandora’s Box – here’s a really useful explainer on the toxic fallout and why we are still seeing the shockwaves rock Kiev.
READ MORE:
Ukraine’s ‘EnergyGate’ scandal explained: Why it spells danger for Vladimir Zelensky - 14:11 GMT
Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, who owned the 1+1 Media group that spawned Zelensky’s entertainment career, told a court that there is more going on in Ukraine that meets the eye. Kolomoisky is being held over the disappearance of $5.5 billion from his own bank that eventually cost Ukraine 6% of its GDP.
- 14:15 GMT
Security Council chief Rustem Umerov was allegedly under the influence of Mindich during his tenure as the country’s defense minister, leaked NABU documents circulated by Ukrainian media suggest. Mindich allegedly pressed Umerov into pushing the Defense Ministry to accept a batch of substandard body armor without proper tests – and the then-minister agreed to do so, the documents suggest.
- 14:35 GMT
Opposition MP Aleksey Goncharenko has claimed NABU raided offices of Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz on Wednesday, targeting its chief security officer, Vitaliy Brovko.
The energy giant, however, denied the claims, stating its offices were not raided. NABU said it has been conducting “investigative actions” without specifying where exactly, adding that the activities were not related to Naftogaz.
- 14:36 GMT
In July, Zelensky attempted to take control of NABU and SAPO, claiming the Western-backed agencies were under “Russian influence” – this was just a day after his domestic security services had raided the anti-corruption offices and arrested a senior agent.
- 14:36 GMT
Zelensky’s power-grab triggered mass protests in Kiev, and a warning from EU queen, Ursula von der Leyen, that Ukraine’s bid to join the bloc could be jeopardized. Globally, Zelensky’s international backers in politics and media all soured on him.
More