Zelensky’s reputation has been undermined by corruption investigations: what impact could this have?
Володимир Зеленський
Journalists have published a story about a corruption investigation involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle. The publication says the revelations are already creating political pressure and could affect his international support.
This is reported by The New York Times .
Ukrainian investigators said that a criminal organization led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s business partner and co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio, Timur Mindich, withdrew and laundered $100 million from the state-owned nuclear energy company of Ukraine. The organization is also suspected of other fraudulent and financial crimes.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has been releasing new material on the case for a week. Detectives have been releasing wiretaps and other evidence that have attracted significant public attention. The slow release of the data has increased pressure on the president, as journalists have noted that it is not yet clear how far the investigation could go.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not personally involved in this case. He stated that he supports “every investigation conducted by law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies.”
Journalists recalled that this summer the president tried to limit the independence of anti-corruption structures during one of the investigations. After that, Ukrainians took to the first large-scale protests during the war, believing that such steps threatened democratic procedures.
The article notes that the revelations in the NABU cases were an important turning point for Zelensky. Previously, he had built an image of a politician who sought to make the government transparent and weaken the influence of the oligarchs.
Now, almost seven years after the elections and with no possibility of holding new ones due to the war, some Ukrainians believe that he is working within a narrow and closed political circle.
By the way, NABU and SAPO have handed the former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine a request for a preventive measure . Prosecutors plan to request his detention.
We will remind, after the “Midas” operation, which exposed large-scale corruption in “Energoatom” and shook up the government offices, a systematic campaign to discredit NABU and SAPO was launched in the Ukrainian Telegram . Anti-corruption authorities called the operation one of the most effective in 2025, but in parallel with its successes, a wave of identical posts appeared attacking investigators and prosecutors.
On the eve of the meeting, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed NSDC sanctions against the co-owner of Kvartal-95 Timur Mindich and businessman Oleksandr Zukerman, who are linked to a corruption case in the energy sector.
It was previously reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are conducting a large-scale Operation Midas to expose corruption in the energy sector.
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