Transcripts of secret conversations between members of Zelensky’s mafia ‘Family’ [who coincidentally all have ties to Tel Aviv] have been pouring out over the past two weeks. Over the last week, the trickle has become a flood, with opposition parliamentarians claiming to have been sent 1,400 pages of wiretapped conversations between Zelensky’s closest friends. It’s hard to keep up.
But Zelensky has still said nothing. Last year, the first batch of conversations taped by the western-funded National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) emerged, showing that Zelensky’s oldest, closest friends had embezzled 100 million dollars from Ukraine’s energy system in wartime. His only statement was to condemn those ‘trying to spread a shitstorm’ and ‘engaging in political infighting’ instead of being good patriots.
Today, we will be spreading just such a shitstorm. Last year’s 100 million dollars from the energy system are just the tip of the iceberg, with the latest files showing Zelensky’s friends appropriating billions of euros in western aid for their highly ineffective drone company ‘Fire Point’. This company, run secretly by Zelensky’s friends, received by far the largest portion of Ukraine’s military budget while producing dud drones. Quite an attractive proposition for some, with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo joining the board of Fire Point in November 2025, right as the first corruption revelations about the company emerged.
And today’s portions might be the most scandalous portions of the latest portions of the ‘Mindich Files’. They are named, you may recall, after Timur Mindich, the obscure old friend of Zelensky’s that became one of the most powerful men in the country following 2022, despite having never held any government posts.
The reason today’s portions are so piquant isn’t because they contain new evidence of the billions of dollars in western aid and Ukrainian budget revenues that Mindich the rest of the Zelensky ‘Family’ appropriated for themselves. Today’s focus isn’t so much the absolute influence Mindich held over top government officials like defense minister Rustem Umerov, despite the fact that Mindich never held any government posts. We read about all that here and here.
Instead, today’s leaks are interesting for psychological reasons. Mindich and his coterie are quite cognizant of the following: their survival and enrichment depends on the continuation of the war and Zelensky remaining in office. They say it openly, they joke about it, they laugh about it.
That gives an idea of the horizon — more war. While Mindich may have escaped NABU charges for Tel Aviv’s beaches late last year, Rustem Umerov is still Ukraine’s main negotiator, and secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. He even touched down in Miami yesterday to meet with Trump’s team.
Rustem Umerov
Of course, many western publications are speculating that this ‘surprise trip’ is Zelensky’s way of trying to prove that Umerov is too important diplomatically to be touched by the corruption scandal. Umerov, you may recall from the batch of files we examined two days ago, called Mindich his ‘brother’ while assuring to provide him with even more lucrative military contracts.
And Zelensky, of course, remains president. Zelensky’s ‘Family’ is weakened, but the Don remains. Zelensky’s most trusted right-hand man, Andrey Yermak, now operates fully in the shadows, but is as powerful as ever. In short, the course stays.
Yermak
So it’s no surprise that Zelensky, according to western-funded Ukrainian media, aims to continue the war until at least 2028, when he hopes a new Democratic administration will supercharge aid. Igor Kolomoisky, the oligarch who brought Zelensky to power in 2019 but was then betrayed and imprisoned by his former puppet in 2023, hence made the following prediction in court a few days ago:
The war definitely won’t end in the next three years.
The Capos
First, just a reminder of our illustrious cast
Mindich, Timur Mikhailovich. Alias: ‘Carlson’.
Mindich has known Zelensky for at least 20 years. But Mindich knew oligarch Igor Kolomoisky even longer, since the early 2000s. In 2008, introduced Zelensky to Igor Kolomoisky, the Dnepropetrovsk oligarch that subsequently made Zelensky’s career in show business. Mindich was the co-owner of Zelensky’s comedy studio Kvartal 95 until December 2025.
Mindich was previously engaged to marry Kolomoisky’s daughter (it didn’t work out). Kolomoisky was also the ‘sandak’ of Mindich’s son, meaning that the ritual circumcision was carried out on Kolomoisky’s lap. The godfather, in Christian terms, though Google tells me that the role of sandak is traditionally given to the biological grandfather. Clearly, the ceremony’s role in the Mindich-Kolomoisky relationship was to cement their ‘business’ relationship, so to speak. To solidify Mindich’s status as a member of the Kolomoisky Family. But back then, he was a nobody compared to what happened after 2022. According to the NABU, Mindich was merely a ‘mid-level manager’ in the Kolomoisky organization.
Kolomoisky brought Zelensky to power in the 2019 elections, but the puppet got out of control, and Zelensky imprisoned Kolomoisky in 2023. Zelensky now took charge of the vast Kolomoisky Mafia empire. The new Don. Mindich, who had once been Kolomoisky’s assistant, was responsible for day-to-day management of Kolomoisky’s assets, as well as everything else in the country, becoming one of Ukraine’s most powerful men by 2025.
Mindich fled to Israel in November 2025 following publication of the ‘Mindich tapes’. The NABU, which released said tapes officially, also accused him for corruption, money laundering, and leadership of an organized crime group.
Tsukerman, Oleksandr Davidovich. Alias: ‘Sugarman’.
He has also likely known Zelensky for a very long time, since Tsukerman has been ‘best friends’ with Mindich for 20 years. Like ‘Carlson’, ‘the Sugarman’ fled to Israel in November 2025 following publication of the Mindich tapes and corruption charges against him. Little known about him other than that he is a member of the board of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine. Naturally, like Mindich and the rest, he is a native of Dnepropetrovsk. And like Mindich, he has never occupied any government posts.
Chernyshov, Alexey Mikhailovich. Alias: ‘Che Guevara’.
Has known Tsukerman and Mindich for 20 years. Enjoyed a meteoric career in Ukrainian government under Zelensky. Currently without positions due to corruption allegations. All the way until 2025, Chernyshov was in charge of building the ‘Dynasty’ complex of mansions — one for Zelensky, one for Yermak, one for Mindich, and one for Chernyshov. Zelensky’s wife Elena is the Godmother of Chernyshov’s children (Chernyshov’s daughter was baptized for some reason). Chernyshov was previously involved in finance and real estate (well, he never stopped).
Yermak, Andrey Borisovich. Alias: the Doctor, the Surgeon, Ali Baba.
The film producer and lawyer who became the head of Zelensky’s Office of the President in 2020, rising to near-omnipotence by 2025. An old friend of Mindich’s, naturally. Mindich-gate forced Yermak to leave his post in late November 2025, but he was never charged with corruption — rather suspicious. His influence has supposedly even increased since his removal from formal positions, which is probably a key reason why all these new leaks are coming out, pushed by Yermak’s enemies. Yermak has the alias ‘the surgeon’ or ‘the doctor’ among the Family, because his presidential administration implements ‘surgical solutions’ when it comes to personnel appointments or dismissal.
Let’s now get to the files.
We’ll begin by clarifying somewhat Tsukerman’s relationship to Mindich, Chernyshov, and the Family as a whole. It sheds some light on the nature of the organization as a whole. In their own words, all that unites them is decades of friendship, shared religiosity, and a love for the Promised Land.
We’ll also see Tsukerman angrily push back against claims that he and Mindich were running a money laundering group. He claims instead that he was merely running an ‘intellectual club’ where he and his friends met to ‘discuss philosophy’.
And finally, we’ll examine the new transcripts which show Mindich, Tsukerman and friends worrying that if the war ends or Zelensky leaves his post, they won’t ‘survive’. Even worse, military contracts worth billions will fall apart. Other tidbits include Tsukerman boasting about the results of his latest DNA tests and Mindich agreeing that ‘war is the economy’.