Sawt Falasteen - Zelensky sanctions associate as corruption scandal engulfs Kyiv

The sanctions on a supposed friend of the Ukrainian leader came a day after Zelensky asked two ministers to resign, distancing himself from allies implicated in a giant money-laundering scheme.

Anti-graft officers have said the scheme saw $100 million in funds from the energy sector -- battered by Moscow's attacks -- siphoned off.

Investigators had named Timur Mindich -- a 46-year-old businessman known to have close ties with Zelensky -- as the mastermind.

Zelensky's office published a decree imposing "personal special economic" sanctions on Mindich and another businessman, Oleksandr Tsukermann.

It ordered their assets to be frozen, state awards revoked and restrictions on their travel and business activities.

Both men are also citizens of Israel and are believed to have left Ukraine.

The implication of Mindich, described as a close friend of Zelensky by Ukrainian media, could be potentially damaging for the wartime leader.

Germany, a key ally of Ukraine, said it expected Kyiv to do more to fight corruption.

Berlin said Chancellor Friedrich Merz told Zelensky to "energetically advance anti-corruption measures" in a phone call on Thursday.

Zelensky made to mention of the corruption scandal in his statement on the call but said he had "assured Friedrich that Ukraine will do everything necessary to strengthen partners' trust."

- 'He can go to hell' -

A senior official working closely with Zelensky told AFP he was furious and had not spoken to Mindich since the scandal came to light this week.

"What is there to talk about? He (Mindich) can go to hell," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity and adding that Zelensky "was fucking stunned when he found out what was happening."

Mindich co-owned the production company Kvartal 95, founded by Zelensky when he was a star comedian.

Zelensky fired his justice and energy ministers on Wednesday over the scheme.

"The president has taken the toughest steps he could within his powers," the official said, adding that Zelensky "fully supports" the anti-corruption investigation.

Accusations of corruption at the heart of power have caused outrage in Ukraine.

As scandal engulfed Kyiv, Zelensky on Thursday announced he had visited troops on Ukraine's southern front, where Russia has been making advances.

Moscow has recently captured three villages in the region.

"I listened to a report on the operational situation in this sector, enemy activity, and losses among the occupiers," Zelensky said on X.

His visit came as Russia claimed to have taken two more villages in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions and as Kyiv scrambled to keep hold of the eastern hub of Pokrovsk.

U.AlSharif--SF-PST