Ukraine saw fewer graft scandals in 2025 than in 2024, but those that emerged proved far more explosive.
Several cases involving the inner circle of President Volodymyr Zelensky triggered major political fallout, including the resignation of Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak. The blow was significant enough that a new head of the Presidential Office has yet to be appointed.
Most investigations were led by Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption agencies, which pursued cases involving senior officials. The exposure of such cases, including those tied to the president’s inner circle, showed that corruption investigations continued regardless of rank – a silver lining despite the setback.
Kyiv Post has selected the five most significant anti-corruption investigations of 2025 to illustrate the progress in the country’s fight against graft.
Operation Midas: Case tied to Zelensky’s inner circle
In 2025, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) investigated Tymur Mindich, a businessman close to Zelensky and Yermak, in a probe known as Operation Midas.
By summer, media reports and statements from lawmakers revealed that NABU had wiretapped Mindich in connection with alleged corruption in Ukraine’s energy sector. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) later detained NABU detectives involved in the surveillance, a move NABU said was confirmed by its internal findings.
The wiretap might have triggered what some see as a retaliation against NABU.
On July 21, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law subordinating anti-corruption bodies to the prosecutor general, effectively limiting their independence. The legislation was adopted rapidly and without full procedural compliance, prompting protests in Kyiv – unseen since 2014 Euromaidan – and warnings from the EU that the move could harm European integration. Following public backlash, Zelensky and his loyal parliamentary majority reversed the decision and restored NABU’s independence.
Fast forward a few months, on Nov. 10-11, NABU released more than an hour of recorded conversations on its YouTube and Telegram channels. The recordings allegedly showed Mindich and associates discussing corruption schemes and dividing proceeds.
According to investigators, Mindich and officials at Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear energy company, ran an illicit operation that extracted payments from contractors, typically 10% to 15% of contract values. Contractors who refused risked losing contracts.
The recordings also included threats to delay or sabotage the construction of energy protection facilities despite ongoing Russian attacks – a detail that infuriated many Ukrainians.
NABU estimated the scheme siphoned up to $100 million from tenders related to protective infrastructure for the energy sector. Speculators said that Energoatom’s protected status during martial law limited oversight and enabled the scheme.
The investigation implicated officials from Energoatom and alleged involvement by the ministers of energy and ecology – as well as those close to Zelensky himself, such as Mindich and former Vice Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov.
Of note is also how the scheme continued despite media reports in July that the apartment was bugged by NABU.
Two ministers, Svitlana Hrynchuk and Herman Halushchenko, were dismissed. Mindich left the country, and four suspects were formally charged. The scandal also led to the resignation of Yermak, amid claims he had knowledge of or ties to the case.
Investigation into Oleksiy Chernyshov
Former Vice Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov also became a suspect in a NABU investigation into abuse of office.
Investigators said a Kyiv developer illegally obtained a land plot with the assistance of officials at the Ministry of Regional Development, then led by Chernyshov. The land was transferred to a state-owned enterprise, which signed investment agreements with a preferred developer, who was to officially transfer some future apartments to the state.
The land and buildings were allegedly undervalued by nearly five times, creating a difference exceeding Hr.1 billion (about $25 million). NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) seized the property before the state incurred losses.
Investigators said Chernyshov and accomplices received benefits in the form of steep apartment discounts, paying between Hr.1,000 ($24) and 8,000 ($190) per square meter, compared with market prices of about Hr.30,000 ($710). The total illicit benefit attributed to Chernyshov exceeded Hr.14.5 million (about $400,000).
At the time of the investigation, Chernyshov headed the Ministry of National Unity and Integration. He remained abroad for an extended period – mocked by locals for being the minister responsible for returning Ukrainians from abroad, but did not return from abroad himself.
He came back to Ukraine on June 23, 2025, when NABU served him with a notice of suspicion, a step in the Ukrainian legal system before charges are pressed. He was excluded from Yuliia Svyrydenko’s new government, and the ministry was dissolved.
Observers said the case contributed to the government’s attempt to limit NABU’s authority in July.
Operation Clean City, Kyiv’s shadow mayor
On Feb. 6, the anti-corruption agencies conducted mass searches of Kyiv City Council deputies and Kyiv City State Administration officials as part of Operation Clean City.
Authorities seized more than $6.4 million, €630,000 ($728,500), and about Hr.800,000 ($18,930) in cash from safe-deposit boxes.
NABU said the group focused on illegally transferring valuable city land for development and controlling decisions on land rights. Suspects included city council deputies, senior municipal officials and executives of municipal enterprises.
“One of the key areas of activity was the seizure of valuable capital land for development and taking full control of the local authorities’ decision-making process regarding the granting of land rights,” a NABU statement says at the time.
“Among the suspects are: a former city council deputy, the head of a criminal organization; the deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration; the chair and a member of the permanent commission of the Kyiv City Council on architecture, urban planning, and land relations, current Kyiv City Council deputies; the first deputy and a deputy director of municipal enterprises; and four other individuals,” it adds.
The move against the Kyiv administration came as a surprise to many. For decades, the capital has been plagued by cases involving the illegal transfer of buildings with protected or architectural status, with authorities often turning a blind eye as private developers replaced them with new construction.
Investigators identified former city council deputy Denys Komarnytsky as the alleged leader. Komarnytsky, linked to former Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi, was widely described by critics as Kyiv’s shadow mayor due to his influence during Mayor Vitali Klitschko’s tenure.
Despite the investigation, Komarnytsky fled Ukraine in March, reportedly leaving in a vehicle marked for transporting fallen soldiers. His escape sparked public outrage.
Most suspects were linked to Klitschko’s political camp, though the mayor sustained limited political damage as the case was soon eclipsed by later scandals, such as the one involving Chernyshov.
Case against lawmaker Anna Skorokhod
In December 2025, NABU named lawmaker Anna Skorokhod as a suspect. She was elected in 2019 from the Servant of the People party but was expelled from the faction later that year and continued as an independent.
Overall, recent NABU cases have involved 10 sitting lawmakers from the ruling Servant of the People party.
Investigators said Skorokhod organized a scheme offering to impose sanctions against a business competitor for Hr. 10 million (about $250,000). According to NABU, accomplices collected $125,000 and falsely claimed the money would be passed to officials of the National Security and Defense Council (RNBO) – but no one at the RNBO was willing to take that bribe.
“When the ‘client’ handed over part of the amount – $125,000 – they were assured that the money would be passed on to officials of the National Security and Defense Council,” NABU wrote.
“To ensure they would receive the full amount, the accomplices asked the company’s representative to write a receipt stating that he had borrowed money from them. However, neither NSDC members nor other officials ever received the funds, as the perpetrators did not find anyone willing to commit illegal actions,” it added.
Skorokhod denied the allegations and said she would contest the charges.
ARMA asset management probe
On July 16, SAPO opened a criminal case following a Ukrainska Pravda investigation into the handling of seized assets by the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA).
The report mentioned the then-deputy prime minister for European Integration, Olha Stefanishyna, who is now the ambassador to the US as of December 2025.
The probe focuses on the transfer of Kyiv’s House of Trade Unions to a company owned by Stefanishyna’s former husband. Stefanishyna said she has no connection to his business activities.
SAPO said no one has been formally charged, and the investigation is ongoing. Stefanishyna is not a suspect in NABU proceedings, though ARMA officials may face scrutiny.
Stefanishyna did not join Svyrydenko’s government and briefly lost her post. On Aug. 27, she was appointed Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States.