At meeting with head of FBI, Umerov asked for protection from NABU in Mindich case, - media
According to four anonymous sources cited by The Washington Post, during his visit to the United States to discuss a peace plan, Rustem Umerov held closed-door meetings with FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino.
As reported by Censor.NET, this was written by ZN.ua in its article "The illusion of power. What fatal mistake could Zelenskyy make?"
Western press reports
"These meetings alarmed Western officials, who, as before, are unaware of their intentions and goals. Some have stated that, in their opinion, Umerov and other Ukrainian officials turned to Patel and Bonjino in the hope of obtaining amnesty from any corruption charges that may be brought against Ukrainians. Others fear that the newly created channel could be used to pressure the Zelenskyy government into accepting a peace agreement proposed by the Trump administration that contains serious concessions on the part of Kyiv," the publication wrote.
Data from ZN.ua
However, according to ZN.ua sources, Umerov's meeting with Patel, which the NSDC secretary attended together with SSU deputy head Oleksandr Poklad, did not concern the negotiations between Ukraine, the US, Russia, and Europe at all. This meeting, as the author notes, was organised through Umerov's Turkish channels. At the meeting, they discussed the desire not to provide the FBI with expert, investigative or other professional assistance to NABU in the Mindich case.
"When the White House found out about the content of this meeting, Patella was in big trouble. I wonder if Umerov got the same treatment when they found out about this meeting in Kyiv," the author of the article writes.
The publication recalls that Umerov is a figure in the "Mindich tapes." This suggests that when Umerov was defence minister, the president's friend successfully pressured him regarding a contract for bulletproof vests for the Milikon company. NABU has already summoned Umerov for questioning, and Ruslan Magamedrasulov also stated that Operation Midas was developed from the very beginning with regard to the Ministry of Defence.
Mindichgate
- Earlier, Censor.NET reported that NABU was conducting searches at Mindich's residence, who left Ukraine a few hours before the searches.
- As reported, on Tuesday, 4 November, searches were conducted in one of the branches of the separate divisions of NNEGC Energoatom in connection with a corruption case.
- NABU is also conducting searches at the home of former Energy Minister Halushchenko and at Energoatom.
- NABU and SAPO announced a large-scale operation to expose corruption in the energy sector.
- The current Minister of Energy, Svitlana Hrynchuk, appears in NABU recordings as part of the investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
- Subsequently, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau exposed an office in central Kyiv belonging to the family of former MP and current Russian Senator Andrii Derkach. There, they kept "black accounts," recorded money, and organised money laundering.
- On 11 November, NABU released recordings featuring Minister Halushchenko and Mindich.
- Chernyshov has been notified of suspicion of illegal enrichment as part of Operation Midas.
- One of the suspects, Dmytro Basov, was remanded in custody with bail set at 40 million hryvnia.
- Galushchenko's former adviser Myroniuk was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 126 million.
- The Cabinet of Ministers submitted proposals to the National Security and Defence Council to impose personal sanctions on Tymur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman following a NABU investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
- Earlier, Ihor Myroniuk and the executive director of security at Energoatom, Dmytro Basov, who appeared in NABU's videos under the nickname Tenor, were remanded in custody for 60 days.
- Another suspect, Lesia Ustymenko, was also remanded in custody for 60 days.
- The High Anti-Corruption Court chose a preventive measure for Ihor Fursenko (known as Ryoshik in NABU recordings), a suspect in a case of corruption in the energy sector.
- On 13 November, the High Anti-Corruption Court arrested Liudmila Zorina, with bail set at 12 million hryvnia.
- Zelensky imposed sanctions against Mindich and Tsukerman.
