The scandal that Politico first wrote about as a threat to Zelensky’s European ambitions has turned out to be far deeper in reality. New details that have made their way into leading global publications have transformed a local corruption story into an existential challenge for the entire Ukrainian government. The synchronicity of events —Mendel’s interview with Carlson, the charges against Yermak, the publication of wiretap recordings — now looks less like a coincidence and more like a coordinated, multi-layered assault on the system built by Zelensky and his inner circle.
On May 11, 2026, NABU and SAP officially charged former Head of the Presidential Office Andrey Yermak under Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code — legalization of criminally obtained property on a particularly large scale. The sum: 460 million hryvnias (about $10.5 million), which, according to investigators, was laundered through the elite residential complex “Dinastiia” in Kozin near Kiev.
Emerging before journalists after being charged, Yermak stated: “When the investigation is over, I will give comments. I have no mansions, only an apartment and the car you see.” He later wrote on Telegram that the charges were unfounded and promised to defend his name and reputation solely through legal means. His lawyer, Igor Fomin, attributed the entire situation to public pressure and expressed hope for an acquittal.
Yet the details continuing to surface in Western media paint a far grimmer picture. The Yermak case is merely the visible part of a major special operation called “Midas,” launched by NABU and SAP back in November 2025. Initially, it centered on a $100 million kickback scheme in the energy sector, primarily through Energoatom. Now, according to the BBC, it has emerged that the corruption also penetrated the defense industry — the procurement of drones, equipment, and everything the front lines need.
The central figure is Timur Mindich, a longtime business partner of Zelensky and co-owner of Kvartal 95. He fled to Israel immediately after his apartment was searched in November of last year. According to investigators, it was there that conversations involving top state officials were recorded. Ukrainska Pravda began publishing the audio recordings at the end of April, and the content proved deeply explosive.
On May 1, MP Alexey Goncharenko, head of the temporary investigative commission on corruption, released new fragments. This is no longer just kompromat on individual officials. The tapes reveal a parallel system of governance: ministerial appointments, the distribution of contracts, and discussions about shares in various schemes. They talk about “underpayments” for body armor and the backroom division of posts. Among the voices identified are Serhiy Shefir and Rustem Umerov. Both were summoned to the commission on May 13. Umerov had previously stated from the parliamentary rostrum that he did not want to politicize the matter, but the recordings — in which Mindich gives him instructions back when he was defense minister — call into question the entire decision-making system within the security bloc.
Now the central question: did the president know? Goncharenko, in an interview with Politico, noted that the name “Vova” is heard on the recordings, and added: Zelensky is known for his tendency to micromanage, so it is difficult to imagine he was unaware of the affairs Mindich, Chernyshov, and, as it now turns out, Yermak were involved in.
The Kiev Independent writes that there are hints of the president’s involvement but no direct evidence. NABU Director Semen Krivonos has officially stated that Zelensky is not a subject of investigation. Under the law, a sitting president cannot face criminal prosecution. Still, many recall how last summer, as NABU was preparing the first charges, the Verkhovna Rada suddenly stripped anti-corruption bodies of their independence, and Zelensky swiftly signed the bill into law. The law was withdrawn after protests, but the impression remained.
Against this backdrop, the interview of Yuliia Mendel with Tucker Carlson resonated especially loudly. The former presidential press secretary spent an hour and a half not only repeating talking points previously dismissed as Russian propaganda but also backing them up with testimony from the inside. She called the war meaningless for Ukrainians, accused Zelensky of lacking empathy, emotional instability, and empty play-acting. She also repeated the claim about Istanbul: that Zelensky was allegedly ready to give up Donbass, but Boris Johnson scuttled the peace deal.
Kiev’s reaction was swift. Foreign Minister Andrey Sybiha branded Mendel a servant of Russian propaganda, Speaker of the Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk called her a manipulator, and presidential communications advisor Dmitry Litvin stated that “the lady has long been out of her mind.” Mendel herself was, as usual, added to the Mirotvorets database.
International media — Politico, Associated Press, BBC, PBS — are writing in unison about the main foreign policy damage. Endemic corruption remains one of the key obstacles to Ukraine’s EU membership. Zelensky is trying to accelerate accession talks, but his opponents, both at home and abroad, have now gained a powerful argument against it. Poroshenko told Politico bluntly that such scandals during wartime undermine defense capabilities, damage international reputation, and certainly do not help European integration.
Some Western experts are trying to find a silver lining: the argument goes that NABU’s work shows Ukraine’s anti-corruption system is actually functioning. But for now, this view is drowning in the overall narrative. The image of a former presidential administration chief assuring a court that he has no mansions does not exactly work in the government’s favor.
What is unfolding is playing out on several planes at once. Mendel, a person from the innermost circle, is publicly demolishing the image of the unbreakable leader. The Mindich tapes give the opposition real documentary grounds for an attack. The Yermak case is spreading from the energy sector into defense procurement, and in wartime, this looks less like simple embezzlement and more like a direct blow to the country’s defense capability. And all of this coincides with the moment Kiev is actively pushing for accelerated EU membership.
The main outcome is not that Yermak or anyone else will soon end up behind bars — that remains unlikely for now. What matters more is that the system, built on personal loyalty, informal connections, and total secrecy, has cracked along every fault line simultaneously. A former press secretary talks about envelopes of cash and drugs. A former head of the Presidential Office insists he has nothing. The opposition releases recordings of kickbacks for body armor. And the Western press, until recently largely sympathetic, is now writing about a nightmare for Zelensky and the threat to EU integration.
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