"Mindichgate": Key question is what Zelenskyy’s role is in this story
Why did Zelenskyy keep Umerov in office when everyone around him was already shouting about failures at the Defense Ministry?
In September 2024, in an article titled "Umerov’s Ministry of Chaos" on Ukrainska Pravda, we first described Umerov’s failures as defense minister.
In December 2024, in an article titled "Umerov’s Ministry of Sabotage" on ZN.UA, we explained why Umerov’s actions as Ukraine’s defense minister showed signs not merely of professional incompetence, but of sabotage.
Since then, we at the Anti-Corruption Action Center have publicly demanded his dismissal from the Defense Ministry.
At a meeting between the president and civil society representatives in October 2024, we explained to Zelenskyy that the Defense Ministry was in total collapse. Zelenskyy agreed at the time that Umerov was not coping, but complained that there were simply no better candidates for minister.
In January 2025, we opposed Yermak and Umerov, who were manually steamrolling the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) and its supervisory board, ousting Maryna Bezrukova and installing their own compliant appointee, Arsen Zhumadilov.
Later, we repeatedly wrote about how Zhumadilov and Umerov closed off information on defense procurement that had previously been public.
Mykhailo Tkach’s report for Ukrainska Pravda suggests that Umerov loaded Fire Point, which appears to belong to Mindich, with more than UAH 300 billion in contracts. That is more than half of the DPA’s annual budget. Mindich shared a plan with Umerov to sell a stake in Fire Point. This is a way to legalize money. They planned to sell it in the Middle East, where Umerov made regular official trips.
Even after his dismissal from the Defense Ministry, Umerov retained influence. Zelenskyy appointed him secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), where Umerov is also responsible for arms exports.
The key question is what role Zelenskyy played in the entire Fire Point story.
Why did Zelenskyy keep Umerov in office when everyone around him was already shouting about failures at the Defense Ministry?
Why, after his dismissal, did Umerov remain close to the president and retain influence over the defense sector?
Could President Zelenskyy have known something about the real beneficiary of Fire Point, his close friend Timur Mindich?
Or perhaps Timur Mindich was not the only beneficiary?
I think these questions irritate President Zelenskyy.
The only ones who can provide reliable answers are NABU and SAPO. They must complete their investigations and send them to court. The people of Ukraine deserve to learn the full truth and the facts in court hearings.
Zelenskyy has only one way to silence NABU and SAPO: to finish off these institutions.
Through a controlled Prosecutor General and controlled SBU and SBI.
The first attempt failed in the summer of last year because people took to the streets.
If this happens again, the president of Ukraine will consciously turn Ukraine away from the EU in order to protect his business partners, close friends, and compadres.
This will be a victory for the Russians.
And it will confirm that the ultimate beneficiary of the organized criminal group that, during the war and amid bloodshed, carved up money from the energy and defense sectors was not even Mindich, and not even Yermak.
