Zelensky’s vicious circle – war, corruption and enemies

Ukrainian corruption and the fight against it have never been an end in itself for the West, be it relevant European or US agencies. The fight against corruption is being used as a means of political or economic pressure, for establishing and fine-tuning elements of control and management over a dependent political regime and its key figures.

The initiators of the latest corruption scandal have several reasons for making it public, as with the cessation American assistance and the recent government shutdown in the US, corruption in Ukraine is yet another argument for Trump to end any direct support for the Kyiv regime.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has searched the home of Timur Mindich, a businessman with close links to Zelensky (co-owner of the "Kvartal 95" studio and referred to as Zelensky’s “purse”), in connection with corruption in the energy sector and the embezzlement of vast sums of money.

On November 10, NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office announced a large-scale operation "Midas" to expose a major corruption scheme in the energy sector. Similar searches were conducted also at Justice Minister German Galushchenko's home and at the Energoatom company, both close to Mindich. i Participants in the energy corruption scheme laundered approximately $100 million. On the same day, NABU started publishing the first fragments of conversations from Mindich's apartment, where details of the corruption schemes were discussed. In total, there are 1,000 hours of audio recordings. On November 11, NABU filed the first charges against the participants in the corruption scheme, including Mindich (the alleged ringleader of the criminal scheme), as well as former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksy Chernyshov, who is Zelensky’s friend and godfather to one of his children. On the same day, the Ukrainian government terminated the powers of Energoatom's supervisory board, and on the morning of November 12, suspended Galushchenko from his duties as Justice Minister. Mindich left Ukraine right before the searches and is currently in Israel.

The gradual release of phone call transcripts is an obvious dialogue with Zelensky. With the first portion of audio and transcripts released, NABU (and the US) watch Zelensky’s reaction. This apparently has its effect as Zelensky skips his traditional evening address to the nation. With the second portion out, he fires the ministers enmeshed in the corruption scandal.

The third portion of recordings already includes Zelensky himself, although his voice is not on tape. As the transcript of the conversation indicates, during the chat, Mindich sends a message to Zelensky, who immediately calls the (then) Energy Minister German Galushchenko. Mindich tells Galushchenko that Zelensky called because he received a message from him – Mindich. He also advises Galushchenko to respond that he is ready to do whatever is asked of him. Zelensky's voice itself is missing from the recording, only Galushchenko's is.

Zelensky reacts by imposing sanctions against Mindich and other persons involved. Each such scandal adds strength to the opposition parties and weakens Zelensky, even though he remains the country’s most influential politician. Amid the unfolding corruption scandal, ex-President Petro Poroshenko's European Solidarity party is initiating a procedure for the resignation of the government.

"Today, the 'Cabinet' has essentially turned into the 'CabMindich.' Because Ukraine has never seen so many cash flows in one pair of hands. We are initiating the procedure for the government's resignation – an unprofessional and corrupt one. We call on all parliamentary colleagues who recognize the threat to the state to sign a petition for the resignation of the Cabinet for the formation of a government of national salvation," says a statement posted on the party’s website. ii However, the European Solidarity’s parliamentary faction consists of just 26 members, while Zelensky still controls the majority in the Verkhovna Rada.

That being said, it is clear that during the conflict between Zelensky and NABU earlier this summer, there emerged a situational "anti-Zelensky coalition" of anti-corruption bodies, grant organizations, Poroshenko, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, and other politicians. Against this backdrop, mass protests were held - the so-called "cardboard Maidan" – after Zelensky signed a law to reduce the powers of and subordinate the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. iii

Zelensky did not have his way then as the anti-corruption system stood firm and will act in the interests of its creators when they deem it necessary. It looks like the time for this has come amid the government shutdown in America, scaled down US arms supplies, Trump's peacemaking efforts, and the political struggle in the United States.

All this sets the stage for another political coup in Ukraine. Although Zelensky and his team are still in power and control the situation, another step towards a change of power in Ukraine, a step towards the political collapse of Zelensky's regime, has been taken.

This operation is against Zelensky, as his "wallets" are clearly being exposed, and they can only be exposed by those who know these schemes. The most likely source of information for NABU is oligarch Ihor Kolomoysky and members of his inner circle. Zelensky entered politics thanks to Kolomoyskyi, who was not only his "money bag," but also his boss. This is the reason why Kolomoysky was first sidelined from political processes, then fell victim to the "de-oligarchization" campaign and has been in jail since 2022. It would be naive to think that Kolomoysky would merely testify in prison and not think about how to get out, how to get rid of FBI prosecution and how to bring about the end of Zelensky's presidency. Moreover, his longtime business partner Hennadiy Boholyubov iv fled Ukraine v in the summer of 2024 and is able and motivated to provide communication for Kolomoysky, including with the American FBI.

My guess is that this is a US operation. For Trump, Ukraine remains a storehouse and a source of very useful compromising material on political opponents; he is eager to know who directly brought stacks of dollars from the US Federal Reserve to Ukraine and when.

Furthermore, Mindich is also the owner of Fire Point, a company that produces drones and "Ukrainian-designed Flamingo missiles," which very much look like British missiles. Incidentally, in early November, the construction of a plant in Denmark to produce rocket fuel for this Ukrainian missile ground to a halt. The reasons were revealed by Danish Minister of Industry Morten Bodskov, who pointed to the Fire Point project’s opaque ownership structure, questionable technologies, and excessive PR. vi

What we see here is a double blow to Zelensky and Ukraine’s military-industrial complex: on the one hand, the project to create Ukrainian "wonder weapons" – Flamingo missiles – is discredited; on the other hand, this is discrediting Zelensky, who so proudly trumpeted this project. It turns out that the project is pure PR and a way to launder money that Zelensky himself is almost directly involved with through Mindich. On November 13, the Anti-Corruption Action Centre of Ukraine said they had found a connection between participants in businessman Mindich's corruption scheme and recipients of Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s money. Indeed, one of the defendants in the case, Ihor Fursenko, is an administrator at the Fire Point company. The agency underscores the fact that Fire Point is one of the largest recipients of Defense Ministry funds. vii This means that the largest corruption scheme, implemented through the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, has been exposed, and the Ukrainian army is financed by Europeans.

It appears that Trump was right to halt direct funding to Ukraine, and Europeans, who keep stubbornly allocating huge sums to Kyiv, should reconsider.

Zelensky responded to this by "cleansing the ranks of Ukrainian authorities" and firing those involved in the corruption scandal. He also imposed sanctions against Mindich, stating that he "has no friends."

However, on November 13, when the situation with large-scale corruption had largely been swept under the rug, the EU, seemingly ignoring the scandal, released a new tranche of financial aid to Ukraine totaling €6 billion under the ERA Loans program (loans repaid from revenues generated by frozen Russian assets) and within the framework of the Ukraine Facility grant mechanism. viii

It all makes sense, as Ukrainian corruption actually brings money back to the West. Indeed, corrupt officials transfer money to Western banks, including as a token of gratitude for tranches (kickbacks), and flee to the West, while Ukraine, which they have plundered, keeps taking new loans from the West.

Also impacted by the current anti-corruption investigation in Ukraine is Britain, the main center of influence on Zelensky. It is no secret that London is behind the Flamingo missile project.

Therefore, the British pushed back: "The High Court in London ruled that former owners of PrivatBank, Kolomoysky and Boholyubov, illegally appropriated almost $2 billion of the bank's funds," the court’s press service said. The scheme for withdrawing money from the bank through cross-lending is described in the court's decision as "fraud of Byzantine complexity." The full amount of the former owners' liabilities to the bank has yet to be determined, but Privat expects them to be ordered to pay over $2 billion, including interest and legal costs. According to the Ukrainian authorities, at the time of nationalization, PrivatBank was undercapitalized by approximately $5.5 billion and was subsequently recapitalized from the budget. ix Thus, they are trying to silence Kolomoysky and Boholyubov, to discredit them as sources of information and individuals that Americans should deal with…

Meanwhile, a November 10 article in The New York Post, titled “Words are Weapons” x, penned by the former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and currently Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, Valery Zaluzhny, contained anti-Trump remarks. The New York Post is a conservative publication, one of the most influential American newspapers, which has supported Trump for many years and which he reads in the mornings. The article was clearly aimed to shape the "desired" opinion in American politics regarding the Ukrainian crisis.

Opinion formation is achieved through specific messages. Ukrainian political analyst Oleg Posternak thus deciphered these messages on his page in a social network, banned in Russia:

- A message designed to create the impression of an educated diplomat (education is perceived by Americans as an asset): "After decades in military uniform, I entered Ostroh Academy in 2019 to study international relations."

- A message showing that Americans may not publicly succeed in using Zaluzhny against Zelensky as a tool to ensure a "dirty peace" by exerting pressure on Ukraine: "Peace on Russian terms is not peace - it is surrender." That is, Zaluzhny stands firm on Kyiv’s positions, which Zelensky also shares.

- Zaluzhny intends to expose the cunning nature of Russian diplomats: "Andrei Gromyko, Soviet foreign minister for over 40 years, elevated the art of negotiation to the level of psychological warfare. (...) Negotiations with Russia are not a conversation; it’s a contest of will."

- The message – military force as the only possible tool for "victory": "Peace came only when the military balance shifted on the ground, not because the talks themselves produced it."

All of this is written to show that the "only" candidate to replace Zelensky – General-Ambassador Zaluzhny – intends to continue the war, to resist Russia. And this candidate is controlled by London.

Let us get back to the corruption scandal and one crucial detail that coincidentally appeared on Ukrainian TV: images of bundles of cash seized from the group of corrupt officials. The Americans decided to check the information found on those bundles. The barcode allows tracking the time of issuance and the intended purpose of a particular program through which dollar bills move around. The conclusion of US experts: "Image analysis of uncirculated Federal Reserve bundles with authentic Atlanta and Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank markings represent newly issued notes not intended for immediate circulation. This packaging is intended for interdepartmental transfers. Their presence in Ukraine indicates unauthorized redirection of funds in the supply chain. xi

Thus, the corruption crisis, originally Ukrainian, transforms into a partly American one. An investigation will begin to clarify how, with whose participation, under whose signature, and by whose order the money ended up in Ukraine. This investigation may finally give Trump leverage over at least part of the deep state and his political opponents, allowing him to engage in political bargaining with them.

Zelensky's positions have suffered, the opposition has been emboldened, but he stays strong due to his desperate position and his determination to fight Russia. He capitalizes on justification for the existence of anti-Russian European regimes. Zelensky is needed by Euro-bureaucracy and European leaders whose regimes, which are facing serious economic problems, have decided to rely on militarization and anti-Russian policies. However, this by no means diminishes the effect of the powerful blow dealt to Zelensky's financial and political base.

The views of the author are his own and may not necessarily reflect the position of the Editorial Board.

[i] https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/25605951

[ii] https://t.me/stranaua/216100

[iii] https://interaffairs.ru/news/show/52366

[iv] Listed as extremist and terrorist by Rosfinmonitoring

[v] https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6819820

[vi] https://ukraina.ru/20251105/1071128861.html

[vii] https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/25616967

[viii] https://www.rbc.ru/politics/13/11/2025/691593609a7947abdc857894

[ix] https://t.me/stranaua/216053

[x] https://nypost.com/2025/11/10/opinion/words-are-weapons-russian-diplomacy-is-just-another-front-in-its-war-on-ukraine/

[xi] https://t.me/kost1969/1104