Anti-corruption agency mole helped wanted Zelensky crony escape – media
Vladimir Zelensky's Kiev bag man who ran a series of corruption schemes which stole hundreds of millions of dollars from Ukraine's energy sector was alerted by a mole inside an anti-corruption agency that he was about to be arrested, minutes before the bust was due to take place, local media has reported.
Timur Mindich and his right-hand man Aleksandr Zukermanjsut fled to Israel before Western-backed anti-corruption agents raided his home. Ukrainakaya Pravda (UP) is among several outlets that have been publishing purported transcripts of surveillance records gathered during the 2025 investigation that triggered Mindich's decision to flee.
The alleged mole
Friday’s transcript release centers on Andrey Sinyuk, the former deputy head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), who resigned after formal charges were filed against Mindich and his associates. He is suspected of warning Mindich about the raid.
In a conversation reportedly recorded on October 14, 2025, former advisor to the Minister of Energy Igor Myronyuk and Executive Director for Physical Protection and Security of Energoatom Dmitry Basov, both suspects in the alleged Mindich-run $100 million scheme at state atomic energy firm Energoatom discuss a SAPO deputy head identified as Andrey.
Andrey is described as an old friend of a man named Oleg – whom UP believes to be either deputy head of Zelensky’s administration Oleg Tatarov or one of his aides – and as a “good contact that is worth keeping.”
No honor among thieves
“Oleg is among those who played with him,” Basov said, according to the transcript. “Everyone worked with him, dined and wined and split money. It’s clear what the relationship format there is normal… manly.” However, he added that he feared “this pederasty among those people may backfire,” and that Andrey could “play a double game” by keeping records of the “wages” – regular bribes – he allegedly received.
It is unclear whether the references to homosexuality were meant literally or used as insults aimed at Ukrainian government figures whom Mindich’s associates viewed as untrustworthy.
Suspected tip-off network
Mironyuk and Basov agreed that Andrey could be useful, but said he should be used sparingly and only after a test operation involving a service that could not be traced back to them.
UP claims that on October 26, Sinyuk searched classified criminal databases for the names of Energoatom suspects, including Mironyuk and Basov, as well as figures linked to Mindich, such as former energy ministers German Galushchenko and Svetlana Grinchuk. According to the outlet, the searches were logged in the system and later uncovered during an internal investigation.
Escape plan emerges
The outlet also cited conversations allegedly involving Mindich’s personal driver shortly before charges were filed against the businessman, which appeared to point to preparations for an emergency escape from Ukraine.
The so-called ‘Mindich tapes’ have confirmed long-held suspicions in Ukraine of extreme corruption in the upper echelons of Vladimir Zelensky's government and shattered the Western illusion of transparency and accountability for the hundreds of billions in 'aid' sent to Kiev.
The impact is widening since original charges were levelled last year over corruption at Energoatom and have now included Fire Point, a former movie casting and location agency linked to Zelensky's friends that has transformed into a billion-dollar drone and missile company now at the centre of allegations based on content from the Mindich tapes.
