Brace yourselves, because one of the craziest stories of the war in Ukraine has just hit.
We would be ready to dismiss this whole affair as just an extreme manifestation of Russian propaganda on steroids – but in fact the story is entirely sourced by Ukrainian media and members of the Rada parliament.
Last Sunday (27), Ukrainian online newspaper Strana reported that suspects in major Ukrainian anti-corruption cases had testified against Volodymyr Zelensky.
Sputnik relayed the report on Telegram:
“National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) investigations center on Timur Mindich — Zelensky’s close associate and alleged ‘treasurer’.
[…] Special security forces (SBU) reportedly seized encrypted data revealing that those in his circle flipped.”
And that’s when the craziest part of the story kicks in, once again traced to Ukrainian sources – in this case an MP.
Yaroslav Zheleznyak is young a Ukrainian economist and politician, former adviser to Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.
And before the usual accusations of being Putin’s puppet arise, he was elected in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary vote a People’s Deputy of Ukraine from the liberal, pro-European Holos party
The story is simple: Zelensky’s attack on the anti-corruption agency NABU, was the result of a criminal case which was being prepared against one of Zelensky’s closest associates, his business partner Timur Mindich.
(So far, this story pretty much reinforces the previous Strana report, but there’s bizarre details involved).
The story takes place in Zelensky’s business partner Timur Mindich’s house, where NABU, according to Kiev media, wiretapped the president himself for 3 months – including in his golden toilet.
Slavyangrad reported:
“The apartment of a businessman close to Zelensky in the building at 9a Hrushevsky Street is ‘like a shadow Presidential Office, where contracts for arms sales, bribes in the energy sector, business takeovers, and which major businessmen should be sanctioned were discussed’, said MP [Oleksiy] Goncharenko.”
Lord Bebo reported:
“There are wiretapping recordings in Mindich’s golden toilet apartment, which also capture the president’s voice. Mindich is a long-time business partner of Zelensky, co-owner of the Kvartal95 studio (Zelensky’s comedy show).”
Mindich has close ties to oligarch Igor Kolomoisky (who invented Zelensky as a political force).
“Zelensky’s opponents call Mindich ‘the president’s wallet’ and accuse him of being the one through whom the main cash flows passed in the framework of the corruption schemes implemented by Zelensky’s government.
According to MP [Oleksandr] Dubinsky, who is currently in jail, it was in Mindich’s apartment that informal meetings were held with the participation of Zelensky, Yermak and other high-ranking officials, at which various business projects in the interests of the president and his closest circle of people were discussed, among other things.
‘Mindich is Zelensky’s confidant, and at the same time Yermak’s confidant, who was trusted to collect cash from all companies in the sphere of state governance’, Dubinsky said.”
Read More:
‘Our Work Has Been Effectively Stopped’: Top Ukrainian Anti-corruption Prosecutor Says That Even if Zelensky’s Backtrack Law Gets Approved, the Damage Is Done
Read the full article here