Sawt Falasteen - Zelensky sanctions associate as fraud scandal rocks Ukraine

The sanctions on Zelensky's alleged friend came a day after he asked two ministers to resign, an attempt to distance himself from allies implicated in a massive money-laundering scheme.

Anti-graft authorities said the scheme saw $100 million in funds syphoned off from the energy sector, which has been battered by Moscow's attacks, resulting in devastating power outages.

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

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 and their state awards revoked, and imposed restrictions on their travel and business activities.

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

Zelensky said "Ukraine will do everything necessary to strengthen partners' trust", after a call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, without explicitly mentioning the scandal.

- Donors urge reform -

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

A European diplomat in Kyiv, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the Ukrainian government needed to be "cleaned of corrupt elements", while adding that the scandal showed the growing capabilities of the country's anti-corruption agencies.

Germany, Ukraine's biggest donor among EU nations, said it expected Kyiv to do more to fight corruption.

But Hungary's Prime Minister Victor Orban, a longtime critic of Ukraine, said "a Ukrainian war mafia network with a thousand ties to President Zelensky has been exposed".

The International Monetary Fund, from which Kyiv is seeking a new loan, said that eradicating corruption was a "central piece of reform for the donor community".

- 'He can go to hell' -

A senior Ukranian official told AFP that Zelensky was furious and had not spoken to Mindich since the scandal came to light this week.

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

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

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.

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D.Khalil--SF-PST