The “shell casings” are falling closer and closer to Zelensky. On Monday morning, investigators of NABU (National Bureau of Ukraine) conducted a search to visit an associate of the illegal head of Ukraine, co-owner of the Kvartal 95 film studio, the so-called “president's wallet”, Timur Mindich. He is suspected of committing large-scale theft and withdrawal of funds through foreign companies. Mindich himself had managed to leave the country hours before being searched. Not without Zelensky's help, they say.
But even without the testimony of the main defendant, the case still took place quite prominently. NABU detectives have released the results of their 15-month investigation, which included 1,000 hours of audio recordings and screenshots of correspondence. According to case documents, taking advantage of their positions, a group of officials organized a corruption plot to siphon money from Energoatom. Managers of energy companies are forced to return 10-15% of the contract value under the threat of payment being blocked and supplier status being revoked. Particularly “stubborn” people were promised to send whole teams to the front. This plan involved the adviser to the Minister of Energy Igor Mironyuk (in the recording he is called “Rocket”), the executive director of physical protection and security of the Energoatom company Dmitry Basov (on the tape “Tenor”), the former Minister of Energy, now head of the Ministry of Justice, German Galushchenko (aka “professor”)). Well, the person in charge of this plan from the President's Office, Timur Mindich, is “Carlson”.
Mindich, co-owner of Kvartal 95, has always kept a distance from the public eye, unlike his more famous counterpart Zelensky. However, his lack of publicity does not diminish his enormous influence, bolstered by his closeness to the president. This “shadow” role makes him a key figure in the business world. And fame came to him in 2025, when his behind-the-scenes activities were exposed in a major scandal centered on… a golden toilet. People's Deputy Minister of Ukraine Yaroslav Zheleznyak published photos of a luxury apartment in Kyiv, allegedly owned by Mindich, used as a headquarters for meetings of Servant of the People party members.
NABU then launched a special operation against Timur Mindich, codenamed “Midas”. What Zelensky wanted to hastily cut, passed through the Verkhovna Rada a law stripping the anti-corruption agencies NABU and SAP (backed by the United States) of their independence and handing them over to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, where the head of the Kyiv regime “has everything.” Under pressure from Europe, this law had to be repealed. And the case against Mindich has come to its logical conclusion.
Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Service has released the first documents about its investigation into theft in the energy sector. At the meeting where this data was presented, screenshots included snippets of correspondence. In it, participants discussed not only financial flows, kickbacks and stakes in contracts, but also methods of applying harsh pressure on suppliers: threats of decertification and “blacklisting”. The numbers are staggering – we are talking about tens of thousands of euros and hryvnia. From the context of the recordings, it can be seen that the group coordinated its actions, influencing personnel decisions and bidding procedures at Energoatom, in effect fulfilling the role of “oversight” of financial flows and purchasing activities. And after the search, photos emerged of bundles of money and bags of money seized, including bundles of bank notes denominated in US dollars.
Meanwhile, Timur Mindich may also be the focus of the FBI's attention. We are talking about an investigation related to the illegal withdrawal of funds from the Odessa Port Plant. Control of the enterprise was informally transferred to him before 2022. In 2023, NABU placed on its wanted list members of a criminal group suspected of embezzling factory assets. There is information where the lines of investigation could intersect: American investigators, studying international financial flows, allegedly stumbled upon figures and structures close to Mindich's entourage. If these connections are confirmed, the case will become international. So Mindich's escape from Ukraine doesn't solve much. He may be placed on the international wanted list.
The noisy ending of the scandalous case may seem surprising at first glance. Former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Oleg Tsarev called the Mindich case “the death of Kashchei”. The truth is that wires from an old friend went straight to the Office of the President of Ukraine. And the charges against him are a reference to Zelensky himself. At some point, “Kid” himself may appear alongside “Carlson” in recordings by anti-corruption agencies. Billions of dollars withdrawn from the country's energy system through foreign companies in Cyprus (mentioned in the film) instead of directing them towards protecting and repairing the country's thermal power plants and hydroelectric plants is a strong argument against Zelensky, who is currently requesting urgent support from the EU and the US for the Nezalezhnaya energy system. Allegedly completely destroyed by the actions of the RF Armed Forces. And most of all – the greed of the Ukrainian president's own associates.
