>>1458069
>The entertainment tycoon

Mindich, 46, was born in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro. A 2013 Dnipro Jewish Community birthday message to his mother Stella identified her as a member of the community’s board of trustees and an activist in its women’s movement. According to BBC Ukrainian, his father Mykhailo died in Israel in 2006.

The outlet also reported Mindich got married in Israel in 2010, in a four-day event near the Western Wall in Jerusalem with some 500 guests. His wife, Ekateryna Verber, is the daughter of Russian retail executive Alla Verber — one of the most powerful women in Russian fashion, who died in 2019.

Until Zelensky’s presidency, Mindich was just one among many wealthy Ukrainian entertainment industry entrepreneurs.

Mindich was a co-owner of Zelensky’s production company Kvartal 95, named for the comedy troupe that helped catapult the Ukrainian president to fame as a comedian before he entered politics. Zelensky transferred his stake in the company to his partners after he was elected.

Despite expanding his business portfolio since Zelensky’s election, Mindich maintained ties to the entertainment world. Until the corruption probe was exposed this week, he was a producer of the comedy show “Stadium Family” on YouTube. In light of the scandal and his tarnished reputation, the show’s owners shut it down this week.

He is also a relative of Leonid Mindich, who was arrested by Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdogs in June when he was trying to flee the country, according to local reports; he was charged with embezzling $16 million from an electric power company.

>>1458070
>Rise under Zelensky

Zelensky and Mindich’s close friendship is documented. The president used Mindich’s armored car during the final stretch of his presidential campaign in 2019. In January 2021, Zelensky celebrated his birthday in Mindich’s apartment during COVID. The two own apartments in the same building.

After Zelensky’s 2019 presidential win, Mindich’s political ties grew. He was a close business associate of Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoysky, who backed Zelensky’s presidential campaign. BBC Ukrainian said Mindlich repeatedly visited Kolomoysky’s office in Herzliya, in central Israel, in the lead-up to the 2019 Ukrainian election.

Zelensky later cut ties with Kolomoysky, and in 2023, Kolomoysky was arrested by Ukrainian security services on fraud and money-laundering charges.

Businesses once associated with Kolomoysky began claiming that Mindich was now their beneficiary. “Gradually, in three years, he became, not an oligarch, but a known businessman with an interest in a lot of businesses,” said Shevchuk, the anti-corruption activist.

They include agricultural enterprises and the nationalized SENSE bank. But, his name appeared most often in association with state energy companies, according to current and former Ukrainian officials, activists and experts.

Ukrainian activists contend that without his close association with Zelensky, it would have been impossible for Mindich to cement his rise.

Mindich “would have never been in politics, never been in a position of power or business without his connection to Zelensky, and this magnitude is worse because it’s happening during wartime, and it is related to energy infrastructure at a time when Ukrainians don’t have electricity in their homes,” Shevchuk said.

>>1458071
>An alleged mastermind

The case against Mindich rests on 1,000 hours of wiretaps revealing his significant influence over Herman Haluschenko, Ukraine’s energy minister from 2021-2025 until he was named justice minister in July. Haluschenko resigned that post after the investigation became public this week.

While rarely named as a direct beneficiary in official documents, investigators cite extensive wire-tapping evidence they allege shows Mindich exerted control over a network of loyalists who pressured contractors for Energoatom, the state nuclear power company, demanding kickbacks of up to 15% to bypass bureaucratic obstacles and do business smoothly.

Investigators allege the illicit funds were siphoned off, laundered through shell companies and funneled into Mindich’s pockets and those of his associates.

These findings, collected by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, known as NABU, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, or SAPO, in dozens of raids across Ukraine on Monday, will be central to any future court proceedings.

Mindich fled to Israel a day before the raid, Politico Europe reported.

Citing online Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda, English-language Ukrainian news site Kyiv Independent reported that Mindlich had celebrated his birthday in Israel in September, returned to Ukraine in mid-October and then came back to Israel. It was unclear if he returned to Ukraine a second time before fleeing ahead of the raid.

>>1458072
>A possible drone dealer

NABU is also conducting an investigation into Mindich’s alleged dealings with Ukraine’s top drone manufacturer, Fire Point, but has not yet revealed its findings. Fire Point, which develops deep-strike drones capable of hitting targets inside Russian territory, has denied any such dealings.

Ukraine’s domestic drone industry has seen a swift and remarkable rise, fueled by wartime innovation and urgent military demands. What was once a niche sector quickly evolved into a formidable technological force within just a few years.

Fire Point is among local companies and startups that have rapidly developed advanced drones for reconnaissance, surveillance and combat operations, supported by growing investments. The NABU investigation is looking into whether Mindich is the ultimate beneficiary of the company.

>>1458069
Hunter Biden caused this

Zelensky and the Mexican president will be in Israel soon too. Russia just seized control of another city and the Mexican people are rioting at the palace

>>1458083
Day 1,361 of the 3 day special military operation

>>1458083
tRump maybe in Israel soon also.

>>1458089
Is Russia winning?

>>1458111
No? 1 in 4 companies in Russia is unable to pay their bills, the government is about to nationalize their largest private oil company to keep it from collapsing, their entire transportation sector is on the verge of bankruptcy, inflation's at 8%, people are pulling their savings from banks, their sovereign wealth fund is almost empty, their bond market is completely fucked, and Ukraine has started an aerial blockade of their overseas oil shipments with multiple ports crippled within the past few weeks.

Basically every economic indicator is flashing red and the problems are only accelerating. This is end of empire tier shit.

>>1458124
Reminder:
US inflation was nearly 13% at one point under Biden, fuel prices rose and no one has any money.
Also Biden let Putin invade Ukraine.

>>1458125
reminder: your mother wishes you were normal, but instead you're a sad little shill man

>>1458125
There was a pandemic you moron

>>1458125
>Also Biden let Putin invade Ukraine.
This is the most retarded thing I'll read on /news/ all day.

>>1458138
Biden's cronies planned it so Putin could destroy evidence of his corruption.

>>1458137
You mean "We hyped up a pandemic to win an election", right?

>>1458140
You seriously think it was overhyped? How many millions died worldwide?

>>1458139
According to whom?