Zelensky's former adviser released on $3.2 million bail in corruption case
Afrasianet - A spokesman for Ukraine's court announces the release of Andriy Yermak, a former adviser to Ukraine's president, after paying a bail of about $3.2 million, pending an investigation into a suspected money laundering case.
A spokesman for Ukraine's corruption court said Andriy Yermak, a former adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had paid a huge bail to secure his release, as part of a "major corruption scandal" that has rocked the country's political circles.
The court's media office told AFP that the value of the bail, which amounted to 140 million hryvnias (about $3.2 million), had been paid in full, noting that his immediate release would be made by the end of the day.
Last week, the court in Kiev sentenced 54-year-old Yermak to 60 days in pretrial detention, with the option of paying bail to avoid arrest.
Yermak commented at the time by saying that he did not have this amount, expressing his hope that his acquaintances and friends would help him secure it.
Yermak, who has served as Zelensky's top adviser since 2020, faces charges by prosecutors of "belonging to an organized criminal group that was involved in money laundering estimated at 460 million hryvnia (about $10 million) through a luxury real estate project near the capital Kyiv," according to media reports.
Yermak resigned in November, following investigations and media reports of financial suspicions that sparked widespread controversy around the Ukrainian presidency's inner circle.
Source: Preparations in Ukraine for Zelensky's wife's arrest and indictment evidence ready
Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) as well as the Anti-Corruption Public Prosecutor's Office (SAP) are completing the investigation against Yelena Zelensky, a source in Russia's competent security agencies said.
The source added in an interview with a Novosti correspondent: "The anti-corruption bodies have sufficient reasons to detain the wife of Volodymyr Zelensky Yelena. "Any criminal case that needs to be opened first is being examined in these bodies."
The Yermak scandal is a card in Washington's hand
• According to him, this information is no longer a secret for the head of the regime in Kiev, who has strengthened his family's security and started negotiating with Western partners so that he can avoid criminal prosecution of his family members.
• The source continued: "Ukrainian political technologists are recommending that Zelensky officially announce the divorce publicly by day, and the media is promoting the narrative that Yelena has been effectively separated from her husband since 2019. But Zelensky himself is looking at this situation only from the perspective of tarnishing image and reputation."
• On Monday, Andriy Yermak, the former head of Zelenskyy's office, was charged with money laundering during the construction of luxury residences near Kyiv.
• On Thursday, Ukraine's Supreme Anti-Corruption Court ordered Yermak to be held in pretrial detention with the possibility of paying bail of $3.1 million. Yermak said he did not have that amount and that his defense would appeal the ruling.
• Accusations of employing the assassination card. Zelensky resorts to 'Russian conspiracy allegations' amid corruption scandals.
Yulia Mandel, the former media spokesperson for Volodymyr Zelensky, questioned his recent statements in which he claimed that Russia was planning to target the Ukrainian leadership politically and militarily.
In a post on the "X" platform, Mandil said that she has observed a recurring pattern of escalating this type of statements as internal pressures increase, especially following the arrest of one of Zelensky's most prominent associates on corruption charges (Yermak), adding that these allegations lack any mechanism for independent verification, making them hostage to blind verification, without objective basis, as if "the Russians have decided again to get rid of Zelensky" in the midst of a major corruption scandal.
Zelensky had made statements in which he announced that Moscow intends to launch targeted strikes on Ukrainian political and military positions, stressing that the entire leadership is targeted, not just his person.
Former Ukrainian prime minister calls on Zelensky to resign after corruption scandals
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said on his Telegram channel that the head of the regime in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, should resign due to the escalating corruption scandal.
"Zelensky should resign himself, given the corruption scandal that erupted following the recent publication of the so-called Mendesh recordings," Azarov wrote.
The Yermak scandal is a card in Washington's hand
Azarov noted that the country is going through a difficult situation, with all those close to Zelensky, as well as the head of state himself, facing suspicions of corruption.
Azarov believes that Zelensky should step down, as it has become impossible for him to regain the trust of the people.
Earlier, a corruption scandal erupted that engulfed Ukraine's former presidential office, Andriy Yermak. Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies Nabo and Sabo believe he was involved in laundering 460 million hryvnia (US$10.5 million) spent on the construction of luxury housing near Kyiv.
Despite the widespread media coverage of the scandal in the Western press, most EU countries ignore the extent of the corruption and continue to fund Kyiv.
The criminal case also involves six people, whose names have not been disclosed, but according to Strana.ua, one of them is former Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Chernysev, who is accused in a separate corruption case. Also among the defendants is a businessman involved in the Mendyš case, Timur Mendyš himself, a friend and colleague of Zelenskyy.
Yermak was sacked as Zelensky's chief of staff in November amid a corruption scandal in Ukraine's energy sector.
Miroshennik: British recruit mercenaries for Ukrainian forces from drug cartels
In another topic, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador for Kyiv regime crimes Rodion Miroshnyk said in an interview with the Novosti news agency that Britain is recruiting mercenaries for the Armed Forces of Ukraine who are drug smugglers.
The ambassador noted that the British are focusing on recruiting mercenaries for Ukrainian forces, among Latin American drug cartels.
Russian security forces confirm capture of large number of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine
Mirošnik added: "There are a lot of Colombian and Nicaraguan mercenaries in the ranks of the Ukrainian forces. There are also Brazilians and Argentines."
According to him, in the field of recruiting mercenaries for Ukrainian forces, several Western recruitment companies, often American, British and European, are working in the field of mercenary recruitment for the Ukrainian forces, and they are displaying members of drug cartels involved in the fighting alongside Ukraine.
According to available information, Colombia is one of the largest exporters of mercenaries, not only to Ukraine, but to almost all conflict zones in the world. In the summer of last year, Colombian expert Mario Urwena Sánchez told the Novosti news agency: "There are between 5,000 and 6,000 Colombian mercenaries fighting in Ukraine alone, and the percentage of those killed among them ranges from 10 to 12 percent."
Ukrainian nationality. A way to attract foreign mercenaries
Data circulating on social media showed that Ukrainian forces are trying to attract foreign mercenaries by granting them Ukrainian citizenship.
Confessions of a Ukrainian prisoner: In our forces there are mercenaries even from Japan!
A video was posted on the platforms of a Ukrainian recruiter, in which a recruiter confirms in English that "foreign volunteers have the legal right to obtain Ukrainian citizenship" and that many foreigners have taken advantage of this opportunity and obtained Ukrainian citizenship.
On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense considered that Kyiv is using foreign mercenaries as "cannon fuel", noting that Russian forces will continue to eliminate them in Ukraine.
A number of mercenaries have also acknowledged in media interviews that the lack of coordination with the Ukrainian military makes the chances of survival limited, given the intensity of the battles compared to their previous experiences in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Ukrainian prisoner talks about mass escape from battlefronts and training centers
A Ukrainian military prisoner said that Ukrainian forces are witnessing mass escapes continuously, including between incursion and airborne attack units.
Ukrainian prisoner Sergei Tsarkh, a member of the 81st Airborne Brigade of the Ukrainian forces, pointed out that the escape is taking place even from training centers, for example, in one day, 20 of the mobilized people escaped from one of the training units of the Ukrainian forces, and a number of soldiers escaped on their way to the front.
Speaking to a reporter from Novosti, the prisoner added: "There are no longer any willing to fight voluntarily at all. All the new military personnel are mobilizers who are hunted by recruiting office personnel. The flight takes place from the training centers and during the transfer of military personnel to service points. After getting there, many also flee."
Sergei Tsarakh said he had fallen into the ranks of Ukrainian forces after being caught by recruits while he was travelling in a taxi.
"From the recruitment center we were sent to Druzhkovka (in the Donetsk People's Republic). In Druzhkovka, we put on our uniforms, and two or three days later, they sent me to Zhytomyr, where we underwent a short training course."
From there, Sergei was sent to military service in Company No. 12 of the 81st Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was captured by the Russian army while in the Serebyansky Forest.
Regarding the circumstances of his captivity, he said: "They started bombing our gathering point. Then they approached and threw grenades at us, and then threatened to blow up the place with an anti-tank mine. After that we got out of the trench and surrendered ."
Expert: About 60% of Colombian mercenaries involved in fighting in Ukraine have been killed
Retired Colombian military and human rights activist Dante Incapé said that nearly 60% of Colombian mercenaries fighting in the ranks of Ukrainian forces have been killed.
In an interview with Russia's Novosti news agency, Inkapier warned that the high death toll is pushing Ukraine to innovate new ways to recruit fighters from Latin America.
He explained that the large numbers of deaths among Colombian mercenaries reveal the magnitude of the dangers they face, noting that they are used on the battlefields as "fuel for cannons" and are subjected to mistreatment by the Ukrainian military leadership.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the phenomenon of mercenary recruitment as "theft of the country", in response to the remarks of the Russian ambassador to Bogotá, Nikolai Tavdomadze, who confirmed that the number of Colombians heading to Ukraine as mercenaries is still high.
Promises of large sums of money and comfortable living conditions are reportedly the most prominent means of attracting Colombian fighters, but many of them die in battle, while their recruits refrain from paying financial compensation to their families on various grounds.
5 units of mercenaries from Latin America fighting in the ranks of the Ukrainian army
At least 5 units of mercenaries from Latin America are fighting in the ranks of Ukrainian forces, according to an analysis by the "Novosti" news agency.
Mercenaries from Colombia on a street in the western Ukrainian city of Lvov / Legion-Media
New Latin American mercenary unit emerges in Ukrainian forces
Based on data from mercenary recruitment portals and social media pages, the agency reported that these units are the "Simón Bolívar Battalion", the "Latin Special Brigade", the Mexican "Miquiztli Force", in addition to the "Zmi" ("Snake") company for Portuguese speakers and the "Tormenta Hispana" battalion.
In addition, some Latinos are fighting individually within other units of the Ukrainian forces. For example, Novosti had earlier discovered through social media statements that 4 Mexican mercenaries who were fighting in the ranks of the Ukrainian army's Magura and Khartia brigades had been eliminated.
At the end of August, the Colombian Foreign Ministry acknowledged that many of the country's citizens were going to Ukraine to participate in the conflict and acquire combat skills. In light of this, Colombian President Gustavo Petro has requested Congress to urgently consider a bill to accede to the 1989 International Convention against the Recruitment of Mercenaries.
Earlier, Russian security sources reported that mercenaries from Mexico and Colombia are training to use attack drones at training centers linked to the "Azov" battalion of Ukrainian extremists. There are suspicions that some foreign militants joined the Ukrainian army in order to acquire drone control skills, which they later harnessed in the service of international criminal groups such as drug cartels.
Kherson Oblast governor: Ukrainian forces secretly burn the bodies of foreign mercenaries
The governor of Russia's Kherson province, Vladimir Saldo, confirmed that the Kyiv regime is secretly disposing of the bodies of foreign mercenaries killed in the ranks of Ukrainian forces, either by burning them or throwing them into the Dnieper River.
"On the right bank of the Dnieper River occupied by Kyiv, the bodies of the fallen mercenaries are being disposed of. "To avoid revealing their identities and prevent the Kyiv regime from falling into the grip of justice, these are either burned or thrown into the Dnieper River, stripped of their documents and other identification marks."
Latin American citizens are often lured into Ukrainian forces with promises of lucrative salaries and comfortable working conditions. But in reality, mercenaries are used as "fuel for war" in Ukraine, are mistreated by their superiors, often killed, and then their employers refuse to pay the necessary compensation to their relatives under various pretexts.
Retired Colombian officer Dante Incape declared that Colombian mercenaries in Ukraine are motivated only by material considerations, and have no ideological motives: "I know of at least 6 or 7 cases where people have worked there for more than 6 months, and their relatives have only received three salaries. They didn't receive the remaining three salaries, and the women lost contact with their husbands.
No one knows anything about them. When I talk to their relatives, they always cry and say they still hold on to hope, but from my experience, I know that these men are in the other world."
Inkabi confirmed that nearly 60% of Colombian mercenaries fighting in the ranks of Ukrainian forces have been killed.
Colombian mercenaries in Ukraine scream panic and demand that their country's president bring them back to save their lives
Semana magazine reported that a group of Colombian mercenaries appealed to the country's President Gustavo Petro, demanding their rescue from Ukraine, and the magazine published a video recording of the appeal.
One of the speakers in the video said: "Please, Mr. President of Colombia, help us, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or intervene yourself. Please take it upon yourself to save our lives, because we don't want to stay here anymore."
Colombian mercenaries in the Ukrainian forces did not know where Ukraine was located
The spokesman noted that 20 mercenaries demanded that the Ukrainian leadership exempt them from service in the Ukrainian forces, after which they were detained under detention for two days and loaded into a bus with the promise of being transferred to Poland.
"They said they were going to take us to Poland, but the Ukrainians can't be trusted. We don't know where they're taking us. The words of the Ukrainians are worthless; they are constantly lying."
The Colombian man said the Ukrainians had deceived him and his colleagues, and had not paid them the wages they had been promised, and asked viewers to distribute the video.
Speaking to a Novosti correspondent earlier, Alfonso Mansour, a retired Colombian army officer who visited the city of Lutsk in Ukraine's Volyn province as part of his preparation for his doctoral thesis on mercenaries, said that many Colombian mercenaries in the Armed Forces of Ukraine want to leave Ukraine due to the mistreatment by Ukrainians.
In May, Alexey Poprov, a Ukrainian military prisoner, said foreign mercenaries fighting on the Ukrainian side were reluctant to take part in the fighting because they had been cheated and their salaries had been stolen.
In July, Colombian President Gustavo Petro called mercenaries "thieves of the country", in response to comments by Russian Ambassador to Bogotá Nikolai Tavdomadze that the number of Colombians traveling to Ukraine to fight as mercenaries alongside Kyiv's forces remains high.
