Staff Reports
The headlines out of Kyiv this week confirm what many of us long suspected: inner-circle corruption is still rampant in the very government we’ve been asked to bankroll. Ukraine’s anti-corruption investigators say they uncovered an alleged $100 million kickback scheme centered on Energoatom, triggering mass raids across government and business addresses. The scale of the operation undercuts the smug insistence from Washington that Kyiv’s leadership has been reliably cleaning house.
In a dramatic fallout, Andriy Yermak, President Zelenskyy’s powerful chief of staff and top negotiator, resigned after investigators searched his home — a resignation that comes at an awful time for Kyiv as it courts Western support. Whether Yermak is personally charged or not, his exit is a political earthquake that raises real questions about who has been running Ukraine’s internal affairs. The American people deserve to know that their aid isn’t being funneled into backrooms and kickback schemes while brave soldiers bleed on the front lines.
Investigators have publicly named Timur Mindich, a longtime associate of Zelenskyy from his TV days, among the alleged ringleaders of the scheme, and say several people were arrested or charged in connection with the probe. Reports indicate the operation was the result of a long 15-month investigation with dozens of raids — not a political witch hunt dreamed up overnight. For conservatives who warned that personalities and patronage networks could corrupt state institutions, this ought to be a sobering vindication.
The probe, dubbed Operation Midas by some outlets, reportedly included hundreds of hours of wiretaps, scores of searches, and the seizure of millions during the raids — the kind of methodical law enforcement work that should have been happening long before American aid was piled on. If true, it shows systemic rot in sectors that control Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and finances. This isn’t partisan spin; it’s the result of investigators following the money.
There are immediate policy implications for Washington. Republicans and taxpayers alike should demand strict conditionality, independent audits, and an ironclad plan for oversight before any more blank-check support is approved. Europe has also made anti-corruption reforms part of Ukraine’s path to closer ties, and scandals like this threaten that progress and the credibility of those promises. If our leaders keep sending aid without accountability, they are betraying the trust of the people who pay the bills.
Patriots don’t trade blind faith in foreign leaders for political virtue signaling. We can support Ukraine’s sovereignty and at the same time insist on transparency, rule of law, and a thorough reckoning for anyone — friend or ally — caught stealing from the public. Until Kyiv proves it can police its own house, Congress should tighten oversight and refuse to rubber-stamp more money into a system that still smells of corruption.
