Zelenskiy Weakened But Not Fatally by Corruption Scandal and Front Collapse
Ukraine’s scandal of the decade, the so-called Mindichgate affair, and associated corruption scandals, have weakened Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy and his ruling clan but not fatally so. Although the clan’s ‘business’ coordinator Timur Mindich was under criminal suspicion, near arrest, and forced to leave the country; although the clan’s political coordinator, Head of Zelenskiy’s Office of the President (OP), Andrei Ermak, was dismissed and indicted; although deputies from Zelenskiy’s party group in the Verkhovna Rada are also under suspicion of crimes and Zelenskiy’s control over the Rada has been weakened; Zelenskiy, nevertheless, remains more or less in charge and his damaged clan is still perhaps the most powerful in Ukraine.
However, the power ministries or siloviki (Defense, Internal Affairs, SBU, HRU, Procuracy) have become markedly more powerful in Ukrainian politics, with some neofascist formations inside the military able to assert autonomy from the state apparatus. Thus, Zelenskiy has become more vulnerable to removal from power, having become dependent on independent siloviki, neofascist, and even criminal figures with limited loyalty to him and with their own power bases.
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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED THERE ON 12 JULY 2026
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About the Author –
Gordon M. Hahn, Ph.D., is an Expert Analyst at Corr Analytics, www.canalyt.com. Websites: Russian and Eurasian Politics, gordonhahn.com and gordonhahn.academia.edu
Dr. Hahn is the author of the new book: Russian Tselostnost’: Wholeness in Russian Thought, Culture, History, and Politics (Europe Books, 2022). He has authored five previous, well-received books: The Russian Dilemma: Security, Vigilance, and Relations with the West from Ivan III to Putin (McFarland, 2021); Ukraine Over the Edge: Russia, the West, and the “New Cold War” (McFarland, 2018); The Caucasus Emirate Mujahedin: Global Jihadism in Russia’s North Caucasus and Beyond (McFarland, 2014), Russia’s Islamic Threat (Yale University Press, 2007), and Russia’s Revolution From Above: Reform, Transition and Revolution in the Fall of the Soviet Communist Regime, 1985-2000 (Transaction, 2002). He also has published numerous think tank reports, academic articles, analyses, and commentaries in both English and Russian language media.
Dr. Hahn taught at Boston, American, Stanford, San Jose State, and San Francisco State Universities and as a Fulbright Scholar at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia and was a senior associate and visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Kennan Institute in Washington DC, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies (CETIS), Akribis Group.