High Anti-Corruption Court refused to drop charges against Mindich, who did not appear in court, "because of shelling in Ukraine"

The High Anti-Corruption Court refused to overturn the charges against Mindich

The Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court has refused to overturn the charges against businessman Tymur Mindich. His defence team attributed his absence from the hearing to the shelling in Ukraine.

According to the Anti-Corruption Centre, the appeal court considered Mindich’s defence lawyer’s complaint against the notification of suspicion, reports Censor.NET.

The lawyer requested that the suspect be allowed to attend the hearing online, explaining his absence by stating that "shelling is ongoing in Ukraine" and there are safety concerns.

The defence’s position and the parties’ arguments

The court rejected this motion, noting that Mindich is wanted and that there are no circumstances preventing him from attending court. Furthermore, it was not possible to properly verify his identity during an online connection.

The appeal court’s decision

Ultimately, the appeal court upheld the High Anti-Corruption Court’s decision to refuse to overturn the suspicion. The decision was handed down by a panel of judges comprising Serhiy Bodnar, Danyla Chornenka and Ihor Panaid.

Mindichgate

In November 2025, NABU carried out searches at Mindich’s premises; he had left Ukraine a few hours before the searches.
On 4 November, searches were carried out at one of the branches of the separate divisions of NAEK "Energoatom" in connection with a corruption case.
NABU also carried out searches at the home of former Energy Minister Halushchenko and at Energoatom.
On 10 November 2025, NABU and the SAPO announced a large-scale operation to expose corruption in the energy sector.
Subsequently, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau raided an office in central Kyiv belonging to the family of former MP and current Russian Federation Senator Andrii Derkach. There, they kept ‘black accounts’, recorded money transfers, and organised money laundering.
On 11 November, NABU released recordings featuring former Minister Herman Halushchenko and Mindich.
Former Minister Oleksii Chernyshov was notified of his status as a suspect in a case of illicit enrichment as part of Operation Midas.
One of the suspects, Dmytro Basov, was remanded in custody with bail set at 40 million hryvnias.
Halushchenko’s former adviser, Myroniuk, was remanded in custody with bail set at 126 million hryvnias.
The Cabinet of Ministers submitted proposals to the National Security and Defence Council regarding the imposition of personal sanctions against Timur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman following the NABU investigation into corruption in the energy sector.
Ihor Myroniuk and Dmytro Basov, the executive director for security at Energoatom, who appeared in NABU recordings under the alias ‘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 has imposed a preventive measure on Igor Fursenko, a suspect in the energy sector corruption case (known as ‘Ryoshik’ in the NABU recordings).
On 13 November, the High Anti-Corruption Court arrested Liudmyla Zorina, setting bail at 12 million hryvnias.
Zelenskyy imposed sanctions against Mindich and Tsukerman.
On 1 December, a preventive measure – detention – was imposed on Mindich in absentia. The investigation considers him the leader of a group that received and laundered money from corruption schemes in the energy sector. Mindich’s case may now be referred to Interpol for his arrest, particularly when he crosses the border.
On 15 February 2026, Herman Halushchenko was detained whilst attempting to cross the border. On 16 February, it emerged that officials from the NABU and the SAPO had informed the former official of the charges against him, and the very next day, the court remanded him in custody with the possibility of bail set at 200 million hryvnias.