Major corruption scandal engulfs top Zelensky allies
" Nato member’s main airport shuts again after Belarusian balloons disrupt airspace "Trappeasement - There’s only one word to describe Trump’s negotiations with Russia: appeasement "How Putin’s dream explains Trump’s policies | If You're Listening" Related: Robert Reich: Sunday Thought: Why Trump Is Doomed [...]Rest assured. The seeds of Trump’s destruction have already been sown. He will overreach. [...]Or his brazen corruption will do him in (he’s personally raking in hundreds of millions from crypto, for example). Or Putin will do him in (if Ukraine falls to Russia or an emboldened Russia strikes Lithuania). Or the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=176642554"
3 days ago Laura Gozzi
L-R: The ex-head of Ukraine's state nuclear power company Enerhoatom Petro Kotin, Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky Enerhoatom Petro KotinReuters
Ukraine's energy and justice ministers have resigned in the wake of a major investigation into corruption in the country's energy sector.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called for Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko's removal on Wednesday.
On Monday anti-corruption bodies accused several people of orchestrating a embezzlement scheme in the energy sector worth about $100m (£76m), including at the national nuclear operator Enerhoatom.
Some of those implicated in the scandal are - or have been - close associates of Zelensky's.
The allegation is that Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and other key ministers and officials received payments from contractors building fortifications against Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.
[ Insert: Australian/Nauru corruption in kind - Whistleblower claims millions lost in offshore detention By Anna Stewart • 10 November 2025 A high-ranking Home Affairs official has alleged that the offshore detention regime on Nauru is riddled with corruption, with millions of dollars spent on nonexistent services. https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/post/2025/11/10/whistleblower-claims-millions-lost-offshore-detention Is good to see anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine get some results, too.]
Among those alleged to be involved are former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov and Timur Mindich - a businessman and a co-owner of Zelensky's former TV studio Kvartal95. He has since reportedly fled the country.
Halushchenko said he would defend himself against the accusations, while Grynchuk said on social media: "Within the scope of my professional activities there were no violations of the law."
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (Sap) said the investigation - which was 15 months in the making and involved 1,000 hours of audio recordings - uncovered the participation of several members of the Ukrainian government.
According to Nabu, the people involved systematically collected kickbacks from Enerhoatom contractors worth between 10% and 15% of contract values.
The anti-corruption bodies also said the huge sums had been laundered in the scheme and published photographs of bags full of cash. The funds were then transferred outside Ukraine, including to Russia, Nabu said.
Prosecutors alleged that the scheme's proceeds were laundered through an office in Kyiv linked to the family of former Ukrainian lawmaker and current Russian senator Andriy Derkach.
Nabu has been releasing new snippets of its investigation and wiretaps every day and on Tuesday it promised more would come.
The scandal is unfolding against the backdrop of escalating Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities, including substations that supply electricity to nuclear power plants.
It will also shine a spotlight on corruption in Ukraine, which continues to be endemic despite work by Nabu and Sap in the 10 years since they were created.
In July, nationwide protests broke out over changes curbing the independence of Nabu and Sap. Ukrainians feared the nation could lose the coveted status of EU candidate country which it was granted on condition it mounted a credible fight against corruption.
Kyiv's European partners also expressed severe alarm at the decision, with ambassadors from the G7 group of nations expressing the desire to discuss the issue with the Ukrainian leadership.
The backlash was the most severe to hit the Ukrainian government since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 and was only quelled by Zelensky's decision to reinstate the freedom of the two anti-corruption bodies.
Yet for some that crisis brought into question Zelensky's dedication to anti-corruption reforms. The latest scandal threatens to lead to more awkward questions for the Ukrainian president.
Trump keeps adding to his long list of ‘highly respected’ dictators
"Nato member’s main airport shuts again after Belarusian balloons disrupt airspace "Trappeasement - There’s only one word to describe Trump’s negotiations with Russia: appeasement "How Putin’s dream explains Trump’s policies | If You're Listening""
And now?? -- Protasevich and Sofia Sapega were arrested by Belarusian authorities after their flight, Ryanair Flight 4978, was diverted to Minsk on the orders of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko on 23 May 2021, because of a false bomb threat passed on by Belarusian air traffic control.[2] On 3 May 2023, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.[3] However, on 22 May, it was announced that Protasevich had been pardoned.[4] Lukashenko later alleged that Pratasevich has been an agent of the Belarusian intelligence agency KGB.[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Protasevich
Video: How a ‘sad sack nutball’ ended up at the center of the Russia crisis Rachel Maddow profiles Aleksandr Lukashenko, president of Belarus, who has somehow been cast as the hero in resolving the bizarre conflict that has shaken the Putin regime to its core. June 27, 2023 Why Are Smuggling Balloons Shutting Down Lithuanian Air Traffic https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/12/09/why-are-smuggling-balloons-shutting-down-lithuanian-air-traffic/ Smuggling balloons from Belarus, repurposed from meteorological uses to carry 500-1,500 packs of cheap cigarettes manufactured there for Lithuanian consumption, have caused over a dozen Vilnius Airport closures since October, totaling more than 60 hours and affecting 350 flights and 51,000 passengers, prompting a state of emergency as authorities label it a “hybrid attack.” The teardrop-shaped balloons, equipped with GPS trackers and crates, fly at 3-4 km altitudes risking aircraft collisions, with Lithuania confiscating 1.4 million illicit packs in 2024. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko denies involvement, accusing Lithuania of exaggeration and Western hybrid warfare against Belarus and Russia. Lithuania authorizes “kinetic measures” for interception but avoids shooting down balloons for safety, as no effective methods exist yet. https://geopoliticsunplugged.substack.com/p/rapid-read-geopolitical-must-knows-5a0
Five years ago, the Trump administration refused to recognize Belarus’ Aleksandr Lukashenko as a legitimate president. A lot can happen in five years.
Aug. 18, 2025, 10:53 AM EDT By Steve Benen
Around this time five years ago, Belarus’ Aleksandr Lukashenko named himself the winner of a rigged presidential election, extending a tenure that began in 1994, and held a secret inauguration ceremony. The Trump administration was one of several Western democracies that balked.
Indeed, Trump’s State Department announced in September 2020 that it would not recognize Lukashenko as a legitimate president. An administration spokesperson declared in an official statement, “The United States cannot consider Aleksandr Lukashenko the legitimately elected leader of Belarus. The path forward should be a national dialogue leading to the Belarusian people enjoying their right to choose their leaders in a free and fair election under independent observation.”
A lot can happen in five years, however.
While the Trump’s team in his first term made a rather obvious diplomatic call by rejecting an illegitimate election in a country led one of Vladmir Putin’s regional puppets, things are far different in the American president’s second term. Now, not only has the Trump administration curtailed its criticisms of tainted foreign elections, it’s also decided that Lukashenko is worthy of recognition after all. Bloomberg reported .. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-15/trump-praises-wonderful-call-with-sanctioned-leader-of-belarus :
US President Donald Trump spoke with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, a Kremlin ally under a range of international sanctions, in a rare direct call ahead of a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. ‘I had a wonderful talk with the highly respected President of Belarus,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday. ‘Our conversation was a very good one. We discussed many topics, including President Putin’s visit to Alaska.’
The Republican added, in reference to the Belarusian leader his administration refused to acknowledge as legitimate five years earlier, “I look forward to meeting President Lukashenko in the future.”
I won’t pretend to know whether Trump intended for this online missive to be significant, but it raised a few eyebrows for a few reasons. First, the Republican has obviously abandoned one of his own diplomatic positions from his first term, replacing a pro-democracy stance with something altogether worse. Second, the American president has embraced a stance that brings the White House into alignment with Moscow — which sure does seem to happen frequently .. https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-handed-putin-win-alaska-even-shook-hands-rcna225278 .
I’m also struck by the growing list of dictators whom Trump holds in high regard.
At a recent White House event, the Republican asked Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, how long he’s been in power. Aliyev, who’s been repeatedly accused by international observers of being a dictator, replied, “It’s been 22 years.”
The American president, clearly impressed, said, “Twenty-two years, that’s pretty good.” At that point, Trump turned to attendees and added, “That means he’s tough and smart.”
It was a timely reminder: The Republican doesn’t admire dictators despite their despotism, he admires them because of their despotism.
Trump’s affection for Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has been overt for quite some time, and his eagerness to align himself with Putin has lacked subtlety for years. The American has also celebrated North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as an “absolute leader” and praised China’s Xi Jinping as a “brilliant man” who controls 1.4 billion people with an “iron fist.”
As Election Day 2024 approached, Trump told voters, “It’s nice to have a strongman running the country,” adding, “Sometimes you need a strongman.” With this in mind, his praise for Lukashenko was ridiculous — but hardly out of character.
Steve Benen
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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