Bail totalling over half billion hryvnias has been posted for those implicated in "Mindichgate" scandal: that would be enough to buy 25,000 FPV drones, – ZN.UA

Last year, the NABU and the SAPO announced that they had raised suspicions against a number of high-ranking officials and their associates who are implicated in various aspects of the ‘Midas’ case, which concerns corruption in the energy sector and money laundering. This year, the anti-corruption authorities announced the uncovering of new schemes as part of the ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘Themis’ operations. In total, more than half a billion in bail has been posted for those implicated in the ‘Midas’ case.

ZN.UA has calculated the total bail amounts set for those implicated in all these cases, and how much has actually been paid so far, reports Censor.NET.

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How much bail has been paid in the ‘Midas’ case

For example, in the case of former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, who is suspected of coordinating a ‘kickback’ scheme involving Energoatom’s contractors, the court set bail at 150 million hryvnias instead of the 200 million requested by the prosecution — this sum was paid in June 2026.

For Andrii Yermak, the former head of the President’s Office, who, according to the investigation, was involved in the laundering of funds through the "Dynasty" cooperative, the court set bail at 140 million hryvnias (instead of 180 million hryvnias) — this was paid in full in May 2026, after which Yermak was released from pre-trial detention.

For former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, who was linked to the same co-operative and the receipt of cash via the "Mindich money-laundering scheme", the court set bail at 51.6 million UAH — the money was paid in November 2025.

Bail has also already been paid for the other figures implicated in the "Mindich tapes": 95 million hryvnias for Ihor Fursenko, 40 million hryvnias for Dmytro Basov, and 25 million and 12 million hryvnias respectively for Lesya Ustymenko and Lyudmyla Zorina. Meanwhile, the bail of 85 million hryvnias for Igor Myronyuk, whom the investigation describes as the ‘overseer’ at ‘Energoatom’, has not yet been paid, and he remains in custody.

In total, bail totalling just over 513 million hryvnias has been posted for the suspects currently in pre-trial detention in the ‘Midas’ case.

What could this money have been used for?

According to the publication’s calculations, this sum could have been used to purchase around 25,000 attack FPV drones — enough to equip an entire battalion for several months of active combat operations. Alternatively, these funds would cover the cost of 340–390 new four-wheel-drive pick-up trucks for the needs of several brigades, or around 2,000 sets of dome-mounted electronic warfare equipment to protect thousands of crews and firing positions from enemy drones.

Bail in the ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘Themis’ cases

In the more recent cases — ‘Forrest Gump’ and ‘Themis’ — bail has not yet been posted.

The court set bail at 30 million hryvnias for former MP Maksym Mykytas, who is suspected of forming a criminal group together with current MP Vadym Stolar, instead of the 200 million hryvnias requested. Valentin Yelizarov, head of Metrobud LLC and a subordinate of Mykytas, was ordered to pay bail of 20 million hryvnias (instead of 35 million hryvnias).

The court set bail at 20 million hryvnias for Iryna Mudriy, a former deputy head of the President’s Office who appears repeatedly in recordings of these operations, whilst the prosecution had insisted on 150 million hryvnias.

Operation ‘Forest Gump’

It was previously reported that the NABU and the SAP are conducting a special operation to expose a criminal group involving MPs and senior officials from the Office of the President.
According to media reports, as part of the announced special operation, NABU and the SAP are carrying out searches at the home of Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Office of the President.
In addition, NABU detectives carried out searches at the home of Hladyshenko, the chairman of the supervisory board of "SENS Bank".
Vadym Stolar, a Member of Parliament from the ‘Opposition Platform – For Life’ party, which has been banned by the court, confirmed that NABU and the SAPO are conducting searches at his premises as part of the ‘Forest Gump’ special operation.
NABU later stated that the case involved 150 million hryvnias in cash which, according to the investigation, had been channelled into the legal system via a series of accounts held by front companies to pay bail for one of the defendants in the ‘Midas’ case.
Subsequently, the former deputy head of the Presidential Office, Iryna Mudra, confirmed that her premises were searched on 19 August; she was informed of the charges against her and served with a request for a preventive measure, but was not detained. She is preparing for the court hearing.
On 20 August, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) released new recordings of conversations involving those implicated in the ‘Forest Gump’ case — the second part of the investigation, entitled ‘Themis’. This concerns a scheme involving the hostile takeover of property and other assets through unauthorised interference with the Ministry of Justice’s information (automated) networks.
On 20 August, a prosecutor from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) named all the individuals implicated in NABU’s ‘Forest Gump’ and ‘Themis’ operations.
On 21 August, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a preventive measure on former MP Maksym Mykytas in the form of detention, subject to the payment of 30 million hryvnias in bail.
On 25 August, Iryna Mudra was remanded in custody with the option of posting bail of 20 million hryvnias.