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Ex-CIA chief Mike Pompeo to advise controversial Ukrainian arms firm accused of corruption: Report

Tuesday, 18 November 2025 8:53 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 18 November 2025 8:53 AM ]

Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo participates in a press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House January 10, 2020 in Washington. (Photo by Getty Images)

Former US Secretary of State and CIA chief Mike Pompeo is reportedly advising a controversial Ukrainian military company, Fire Point, a role that would allow him to profit from the Western military aid to Ukraine that he has consistently promoted since the war began in 2022.

According to Responsible Statecraft, Pompeo’s position on Fire Point’s advisory board places him on both sides of forthcoming military deals.

His previous roles in the first Trump administration and in Congress, along with his strong advocacy in Washington for increased military aid to Ukraine, further bolster the company’s advantage as it strengthens its dominance in Ukraine’s long-range drone sector.

Fire Point has rapidly grown during the war but now faces scrutiny over price gouging and its links to Tymur Mindich, an associate of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who is under corruption investigation.

Critics also say the firm is holding an unfair monopoly on Ukraine’s drone industry. The company, which earned roughly $1 billion this year, is currently building a manufacturing plant in Denmark.

Pompeo’s appointment adds to a series of reported wartime conflicts of interest. Responsible Statecraft noted last summer that he could have profited from the “Trump Peace Plan” he outlined in the Wall Street Journal, which urged Ukraine’s entry into the EU and proposed a $500 billion “lend-lease” program for Ukraine to purchase US weapons.

As a board member of Kyivstar, a major Ukrainian telecom firm, Pompeo would have benefited financially from the economic gains Kyivstar was expected to see if Ukraine had joined the EU under his plan.

EU to reassess financial aids to Ukraine over Kiev’s ‘endemic’ corruption

The EU has warned it will reconsider its aid to Kiev after Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies uncovered a major embezzlement scheme implicating a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Moscow launched its “special military operation” against Ukraine in 2022 to demilitarize the pro-Russia territories adjacent to the country.

Since then, Kiev has received extensive backing from US-led Western allies in the form of military aid, including arms and ammunition, along with anti-Russia sanctions and mounting political pressure on Moscow.

Ukrainian officials are now scrambling for European funds to cope with worsening energy shortages, as Ukraine’s outnumbered forces continue to retreat under Russia’s relentless operations in the nearly four-year-long war.

Zelensky has also been seeking deeper US involvement by requesting advanced Tomahawk missiles from Washington to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.

However, US President Donald Trump has been withholding approval for the request.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that if Russia were attacked with Tomahawk missiles, the country’s response would be “very strong, if not overwhelming.”

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