Major corruption scandal, including a gold toilet, erupts in Ukraine, shakes Zelenskyy’s circle

One of the most serious corruption scandals since Volodymyr Zelenskyy took the presidency has erupted in Ukraine, causing political turmoil in Kyiv at a critical phase of the war and fuelling a wave of public anger.

Authority raids on luxury Kyiv apartments—one of which featured a gold toilet—photographs of backpacks stuffed with cash, and audio documentation of officials discussing money laundering strategies. These are some of the details that have shocked Ukrainians this past week regarding the scandal.

Last summer, Zelenskyy and his associates tried to weaken the independent anti-corruption agencies just as they were completing an extensive investigation into the president’s inner circle. However, the Ukrainian president and his allies were forced to abandon the effort following mass protests and reactions from the country’s Western partners.

Undeterred, investigators this week released a large volume of detailed evidence, including damning allegations that senior executives took kickbacks from construction projects designed to protect power stations from Russian missile attacks, even as Ukrainians live with daily power outages.

"A golden toilet is in one of the bathrooms of the apartment of Zelensky's business partner Timur Mindich, where, according to media reports, NABU wiretapped the president himself. This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, who showed a photo, as he claims, from this apartment.… pic.twitter.com/LYtCFKlTcW

— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) July 30, 2025

The revelations sparked a wave of public fury—«how the president’s friends robbed the country in a time of war,» one Ukrainska Pravda headline characteristically read—and forced the government to change course.

Zelenskyy ultimately turned against the suspects in an effort to protect his presidency. On Wednesday, he requested the resignations of Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Grinchuk, who were subsequently removed from the National Security Council.

He also imposed sanctions on Timur Mindich, a friend and former business partner, who has been accused in the case. Investigators stated that Mindich was the “co-organiser” of the alleged scheme and that approximately $100 million illicitly passed through his office, according to Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).

Despite his change of stance, Zelenskyy’s reaction has been criticised as hesitant, while politicians prepare for further revelations that could hit his close allies even harder, the Financial Times writes.

The Bribes, the 15-Month Investigation, and Zelenskyy’s ‘Weak Response’

NABU stated earlier this week that it had carried out more than 70 raids and arrested five individuals in a “large-scale operation” alongside the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) to uncover corruption in the energy sector.

Investigators said that officials and business figures had conspired to force suppliers of Energoatom, the state nuclear energy company, to pay kickbacks amounting to 10% to 15% of the value of each contract.

The result of the 15-month investigation—which, according to NABU, included more than 1,000 hours of wiretapping—caused outrage in Ukraine. NABU reported that part of the kickbacks came from contractors hired to construct protective structures for substations against Russian drone and missile attacks.

Mindich, co-owner of the production company Kvartal 95—which he co-founded with Zelenskyy—was reportedly tipped off in advance and fled Ukraine hours before the authorities’ operations, according to NABU’s lead detective, Oleksandr Abakumov.

Another close friend and ally of Zelenskyy, former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, was accused by NABU of receiving $1.2 million and €100,000 in cash. He has been charged with illicit enrichment but denies any wrongdoing—as does Halushchenko.

Grinchuk, the Energy Minister, has not been directly implicated in the case. Zelenskyy’s handling of the scandal was characterised as slow and too weak.

Zelenskyy commented on the allegations against his associates for the first time late on Monday, expressing support for the investigation but without committing to specific actions. His request for the resignation of the two ministers came on Tuesday, several hours after Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced the suspension of Halushchenko’s duties—a decision civil society organisations immediately criticised as insufficient.

The Ukrainian president subsequently proceeded to dismiss the two ministers and imposed sanctions on Mindich and one other businessman accused in the case.

Svyrydenko stated on Thursday that she had ordered an “extensive audit” of major state energy and defence companies, the Financial Times writes. Concurrently, a special parliamentary committee will examine the anti-corruption bodies on Monday.

We Are Still At War

Allies of the president and some anti-corruption activists praised the fact that NABU was able to conduct a large-scale investigation targeting senior government officials and figures directly connected to the head of state, even during the war.

Activists say that law enforcement agencies loyal to the president show a pattern of pressuring independent anti-corruption institutions. In July, the Ukrainian security service (SBU) arrested a NABU detective, Ruslan Makhamendrasulov, who remains in custody and is charged with facilitating the export of cannabis to the Dagestan region of Russia.

Anti-corruption activists dismissed the charge as politically motivated. This week, NABU’s lead detective, Abakumov, stated that Makhamendrasulov was investigating corruption within Energoatom.

The management of the crisis is particularly dangerous for civil society in Ukraine, as well as for the country’s opposition. Both sides have avoided criticising Zelenskyy since the war began in 2022 and have agreed that elections would be impossible during the war.

The European Solidarity party, the opposition led by former president and long-time Zelenskyy rival Petro Poroshenko, reiterated its demand that the current government be replaced by a technocratic “government of national unity,” which would include members of the opposition.

However, Zelenskyy’s resignation has not been requested. «We are still at war,» Rostyslav Pavlenko, an MP and ally of Poroshenko, stated.

Analysts and political figures have pointed out that the new revelations from the investigation could further destabilise the president.

(information from news247.gr)