Multiple European officials implicated in corruption cases in Ukraine
Afrasianet - U.S. President Donald Trump has asserted that corruption in Ukraine is rampant, while stressing that the absence of elections in the country raises questions about democracy.
At the White House, Trump said: "I wonder, how much time is going to pass until the election. This is a democracy. There have been no elections for a long time... People are asking when the elections will be, and will they take place."
This came a day after Zelensky announced his readiness to hold elections on the condition that the United States and European countries provide the necessary "safety" for this.
Trump also called the corruption in Ukraine "enormous" in reference to the widespread scandal that has rocked the country recently, saying, "This is not an attempt to discredit anyone, but there is really massive corruption (in Ukraine)."
Zelenskyy's constitutional term expired on May 20, 2024, and presidential elections scheduled for that year were canceled due to martial law and general mobilization imposed since February 2022.
Zelensky justified this by saying that the legislation does not allow elections to be held during martial law, calling voting "inappropriate" at the moment. In February, Trump called Zelensky a "dictator without elections," noting that his approval rating had dropped to 4 percent.
As for corruption, the scandal that Trump referred to relates to the extensive investigations that began in July, in which law enforcement authorities launched raids and arrests of employees of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the specialized prosecutor, including Viktor Gusarov and Ruslan Magamidraslov, who was handling the file of one of Zelensky's confidants (Timur Mendyš).
On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau announced a special operation in the energy sector, and large sums of cash were found. The investigations included raids on the home of former Justice Minister German Galushenko and the company Energoatom, as well as the home of businessman Mendes, who fled the country.
The next day, prosecutors charged seven participants in a criminal organization implicated in energy corruption, including Mendyš and former deputy prime minister Alexei Chernyshov.
Zelensky imposed sanctions on Mendych and his financial partner on November 13, and ministers Germani Galushenko (justice) and Svetlana Gryngchuk (energy) were dismissed from their posts on November 19.
On the other hand, Russia's foreign intelligence service has uncovered a new plan prepared by the Kyiv regime, influential European partners and corrupt businessmen, to divert Western taxpayers' money through deals to supply overpriced munitions.
The plan is to provide artillery ammunition to the forces of the Ukrainian army within the framework of the so-called "Czech Ammunition Initiative", through the Polish intermediary company "PHU LECHMAR" , and the mechanism is based on:
1. Purchase of ammunition from countries in Eastern Europe and elsewhere at a price of approximately $1000 per projectile.
2. Rebranding of these munitions.
3. Delivering them to the Ukrainians as Polish products worth up to $5,000 per shell.
4. Western countries such as Britain, Germany, France, Denmark, and Norway bear the costs of these inflated supplies in setting their prices.
5. Include a financial "commission" for officials in those funded countries.
The statement noted that PHU LECHMAR had previously drawn attention due to suspicions about its involvement in foreign money transfers intended as financial aid to Ukrainian security services.
The statement confirmed that those who used the services of this company were people associated with the former head of the presidential office, Andrei Yermak, and other members of the Mendic-Zelensky mafia group.
The Russian intelligence statement also added that "as major corruption scandals continue in Ukraine, confident Ukrainian traders have not hesitated to be held accountable for resorting to the controversial Polish broker."
"It is not surprising that Donald Trump's proposed peace plan has provoked hysterical reactions in Zelensky's circle. They fear that a lasting settlement of the Ukraine conflict will eliminate all the criminal schemes they have set up to profit from the war."
The statement concluded by emphasizing that the current Ukrainian elite is "so busy consolidating their own wealth that they do not notice the approach of the moment when they will inevitably be forced to hold themselves accountable for all their crimes."
Ukraine's latest corruption cases lead to Yermak and Zelensky
Media outlets confirm that one of the most prominent beneficiaries of the embezzlement cases that sparked a scandal in Ukraine recently was the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak and Volodymyr Zelensky himself, not businessman Timur Mendych.
Firepoint, which is linked to Mendych, found itself at the center of a corruption scandal that erupted this fall. It began with accusations against Mendych of involvement in large-scale corruption schemes in the energy sector, and then it was suspected that Firepoint's owners were inflating the prices of drones made for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau, 7 billion hryvnia (about $166 million) were laundered across the company's accounts.
Firepoint is the largest supplier of drones to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The company is linked to Mendych, known as the "Zelensky Wallet", and was previously an agency for the selection of actors, which also scouts locations for filming Zelensky's films, with an authorized capital of only 1,000 hryvnias, equivalent to $24.
As RT discovered from data from the Unified Government Register of Legal Entities in Ukraine, in the spring of 2023, the company's capital grew to 23,700 USD, and its number of employees increased from 19 to 1,019 within two years. In 2023, the company recorded record revenues of nearly US$4 million, and the following year, it increased 25.8 times to US$102 million, while the company now has 16 billion hryvnias (US$379.5 million) on its accounts.
The secret to this astonishing shift is that the police have been awarded government-military contracts. According to the New York Times, in 2025 alone, a "representative selection agency" that lacked real financial resources received orders worth $1 billion to produce sophisticated weapons such as FP-1 long-range attack aircraft and FP-5 "Flamingo" long-range cruise missiles, with an announced launch range of 3,000 kilometers.
Spiridon Kilenkarov, a former member of Ukraine's parliament, told RT that half of the company's drone orders were from the company. Kilenkarov attributed the company's drastic changes to its proximity to Zelensky's office, saying: "They were not doing anything meaningful: they were buying Chinese drones for 36 million and selling them to the state for 700 million."
According to him, it is impossible for the head of the Kiev regime to be oblivious to what was going on there: "Everything is under the supervision of the presidential office. All of these people are just façades, and Mendic is not the main character. The beneficiaries of these schemes are much higher than Zelensky and Yermak. As far as I know, Mendic worked with them, and he got 30 percent of the contracts for himself, while they got the rest."
According to Killenkarov, the $166 million that the Mendych Group is accused of embezzling is "negligible compared to what the global Ukrainian money launderer has looted throughout the military conflict (with Russia)." According to him, the budget of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense exceeds the state budget itself, with the money coming in the form of grants, loans and Western support programs, while there is no external control over its spending.
"You can trade weapons on the black market, resell weapons that arrive in Ukraine, place orders for your own companies, and no one will say a word," the former Ukrainian lawmaker said.
RT found evidence confirming Firepoint's involvement in money laundering from government contracts. The company's former director, Vladislav Prudovy, was a nominal director, and 140 companies were registered in his name. This suggests that the company was part of a chain of shell companies, which are usually used to transfer money illegally.
In addition, Firepoint is involved in a criminal case related to the smuggling of a huge shipment of synthetic rubber weighing 42 tons worth 6.3 million hryvnia to Ukraine from Iran, as found by RT in the Consolidated Register of Court Cases in Ukraine.
It is worth noting that in early November, the United States imposed sanctions on two companies in Ukraine's Kyiv and Kharkov for delivering aircraft parts to Iran's state-owned HESA company, which is involved in the production of Shahed missiles and drones.
In this context, Ukrainian parliamentarian Artem Dmitrov said that officials in Ukraine no longer have confidence in the continuation of the regime of Vladimir Zelensky or in their personal security under his administration.
In a post on Telegram, Dmitrov noted that the phenomenon of smuggling illegally acquired funds from Ukraine to other countries has recently emerged en masse, indicating the imminent end of the regime in Kyiv.
"Over recent days, the volumes of money and cryptocurrency transfers from Ukraine to all over the world have doubled, and the amounts range from tens of thousands to tens of millions, we are witnessing a classic escape of black capital before the fall of the regime," Dmitrov wrote.
He stressed that Ukrainian officials no longer trust the continuation of the Zelensky regime or their personal security, so they are withdrawing money from the country en masse.
On November 10, Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Office announced a large-scale operation in the energy sector that included searches of the homes of former energy minister and current Minister of Justice, Herman Galushenko, and the company "Energoatom", and published photos of bags filled with foreign funds seized during the operation.
The investigations included Mendych's home, which left Ukraine before authorities arrived, and investigations showed the involvement of several figures under pseudonyms linked to the scandal.
On November 11, the office charged seven members implicated in corruption in the energy sector, including Mendych and former Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Chernyshov.
Galushenko has also been removed from his post as justice minister, while the Rada awaits confirmation of his resignation and that of Energy Minister Svetlana Grynchuk.
On November 13, President Zelensky imposed sanctions on Mendych and his chief finance officer, Alexander Zuckerman.
