Overview
- Anti-corruption investigators said Operation Midas uncovered about $100 million in kickbacks tied to state energy contracts, citing 70 raids, 1,000 hours of wiretaps, multiple detentions and alleged 10–15% skims at Energoatom.
- Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko resigned at President Volodymyr Zelensky’s urging, and the government dismissed senior Energoatom officials including the company’s vice president.
- Zelensky imposed sanctions on former associate Timur Mindich and businessman Oleksandr Tsukermann after investigators named Mindich as the suspected mastermind; authorities say Mindich left the country before the probe became public.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a €6 billion disbursement and said the EU would cover Ukraine’s financing needs for the next two years, as Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz pressed Kyiv to intensify anti-corruption reforms.
- Ukraine reported strikes on oil facilities in occupied Crimea and Zaporizhzhia while Russia claimed new village gains, as Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi visited embattled Pokrovsk and Zelensky met troops near Orikhiv; Kyiv confirmed talks with Moscow are suspended as the Kremlin predicted Ukraine would eventually return to negotiations.