Mysterious Russian Connections Found in Raid on Zelensky's Inner Circle

An notepad with the emblem of the Russian President’s Security Service (SBP) was found during an anti-corruption raid on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle, according to the country’s anti-corruption authority NABU.

Ukraine’s special anti-corruption police NABU announced on Monday that a “large-scale operation” had been carried out to uncover corruption within the country’s energy sector.

According to the authority, it involves a criminal syndicate that systematically pocketed money in connection with tenders made by the country’s largest energy company – state-owned Energoatom.

Those wanting to do business with Energoatom have been forced to pay 10-15 percent of the contract value in “kickbacks” to the criminal syndicate.

Raid on Justice Minister

After fifteen months of investigation and a thousand hours of covert surveillance material, NABU struck. The authority does not disclose where or against whom the raids were targeted, but reveals that it involves individuals linked to the country’s energy department.

According to Kyiv post, Ukraine’s Justice Minister German Galushchenko was one of those subjected to a search in his home. He was previously the country’s energy minister.

Another person visited by the anti-corruption police was Timur Mindich, President Zelensky’s close friend and former business partner in the production company Kvartal 95.

In practice, the criminal syndicate has controlled Energoatom, which has an annual turnover of over SEK 45 billion.

Dollar Bundles and Russian Emblem

During the raids, bundles of dollar and euro bills were found. This is not uncommon in this type of anti-corruption operation in Ukraine.

What seemed to surprise the anti-corruption police even more was that they found a black notepad with the emblem of the Russian President’s Security Service (SBP) at the home of one of the individuals they searched.

“An interesting find,” NABU simply writes about the discovery.

Zelensky’s former business partner Timur Mindich was not personally present during the search. He is believed to have been hiding in Austria since the end of July this year, evading Ukrainian justice.

Helped Friend Flee

Oleksandr Abakumov, the head of NABU’s main investigative unit, says the investigation concerns corruption at the highest level. Individuals in the president’s immediate circle are being investigated for very serious crimes.

Volodymyr Zelensky previously tried, through a new law, to limit the independence of both NABU and its associated anti-corruption prosecutor’s office SAPO. This led to the most extensive mass protests that have shaken the country since the Russian invasion.

Zelensky was therefore forced to back down and revert the law. But when both authorities regained their independence and could continue the corruption investigation, Mindich had left the country.