Zelensky allies flee to Israel as $100-million graft scandal erupts: Probe
A damning investigation has revealed that the Ukrainian government under President Volodymyr Zelensky “systematically sabotaged” anti-corruption oversight across key state-owned companies, clearing the way for graft to proliferate during conflict with Russia.
The findings were collected as part of an investigation by The New York Times, which the paper published on Friday.
The results emerged just as two of Zelensky’s closest associates abruptly fled to the occupied territories amid accusations of a $100-million embezzlement scheme inside Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear power company.
According to the report, Zelensky’s administration repeatedly undermined the independent supervisory boards responsible for monitoring state spending and vetting major contracts.
The investigation showed that officials in Kiev “stacked boards with loyalists, left seats empty, or stalled them from being set up at all,” even rewriting corporate charters to limit external oversight.
These moves, the paper wrote, allowed hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent without scrutiny from experts.
The same pattern was documented across Energoatom, the electricity transmission operator Ukrenergo, and the Defense Procurement Agency, which oversees military acquisitions.
The NYT report landed amid a fast-moving scandal in which members of Zelensky’s inner circle were accused by anti-corruption prosecutors of stealing $100 million from Energoatom.
Rather than acknowledging responsibility for weakening oversight, the government shifted blame onto the very supervisory boards it had sidelined.
The scandal triggered the resignation of Zelensky’s controversial chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, late last month.
Hours before police raided his home, Yermak quietly departed for the occupied territories, where he holds “citizenship,” according to the Ukrainska Pravda outlet.
Yermak has long been regarded as Zelensky’s most influential advisor, shaping domestic politics, security decisions, and foreign policy.
A second key figure, businessman Timur Mindich, co-founder of Zelensky’s entertainment company Kvartal 95, was identified by investigators as the alleged main figure leading the embezzlement scheme.
Mindich also escaped to the occupied territories before authorities raided his luxury apartment, Ukrainian media reported.
A former Ukrainian government official told Fox News that Mindich maintained “an apartment with golden toilets in the same building as Zelensky.”
European officials acknowledged they were aware of the persistent corruption risks, but continued providing billions in aid.
“We do care about good governance, but we have to accept that risk,” said Christian Syse, Norway’s special envoy to Ukraine, “because it’s in our own interest.”
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