Overview
- NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office launched operation “Midas” with sweeping searches, published audio recordings, and initial charges in an alleged energy-sector embezzlement ring tied to businessman Timur Mindich.
- Ukraine moved quickly with administrative steps, dismissing Energoatom’s supervisory board on November 11 and, on November 12, suspending Herman Galushchenko from his justice ministry duties, according to official and media reports.
- Ukrainian reporting and prosecutorial statements say Mindich wielded illicit influence over former defense minister Rustem Umerov and pressured procurement of substandard body armor, with tenders linked to delays and poor quality gear.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov asserted that Europe and the United States increasingly see donor funds being embezzled in Kyiv, while Ukrainian lawmaker Iryna Herashchenko warned the scandal could cost the country Western support.
- Concurrently, Russian authorities highlighted domestic security and enforcement moves, including new volunteer reserves to guard critical infrastructure and arrests in bribery and cash-out cases, as the Financial Times reported a failed informal outreach to Moscow by UK adviser Jonathan Powell.