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At the most delicate moment of the Revolution of Dignity, with US-backed peace negotiations with the Kremlin in the background and the path to EU membership formally underway, Ukraine was rocked by one of the most serious corruption scandals in recent years. Operation Midas, made public in November 2025 by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), uncovered an alleged system of bribes and embezzlement in the energy sector, centred on the state-owned company Energoatom.
The investigation, which lasted about fifteen months and involved more than seventy searches and about a thousand hours of audio recordings, involved figures close to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inner circle. Among the main subjects of the investigation is Timur Mindich, an entrepreneur with close ties to the presidency, who is believed to have fled abroad to avoid investigation. The charges include embezzlement, kickbacks of 10–15% on public contracts and money laundering of at least one hundred million dollars. On 28 November 2025, a few hours after searches were carried out at his residence and office, the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, resigned, while Zelensky announced a ‘reset’ of the Presidential Office and a strengthening of internal controls.
This scandal comes at an extremely delicate time: Ukraine has been an official candidate for EU membership since 2022 and formally began accession negotiations in June 2024. The fight against corruption is one of the key criteria for Brussels in the enlargement process, as emphasised by the Council of the EU. Consequently, Operation Midas is not just a domestic legal case, but a test of credibility before European Member States and international allies.
Italian media, between accountability and critical narratives
In Italy, media coverage of the scandal developed along two main lines, reflecting editorial differences and political sensitivities.
Corriere della Sera, a liberal-centrist and traditionally pro-European daily newspaper, treated the allegations with a critical but contextualised tone. The seriousness of the allegations was highlighted — from the personal networks surrounding the president to illicit enrichment and bribes — but always within a broader context: that of a country at war that is trying to strengthen its institutions under pressure. The narrative emphasises that the very fact that the investigation has targeted figures close to power indicates the presence of functioning institutional instruments. Some articles even implicitly referred to the Italian precedent of ‘Mani Pulite’: an investigation that shook the political system but demonstrated the effectiveness of the judiciary in prosecuting those at the top of the power structure.
In contrast, Il Fatto Quotidiano, a left-wing populist daily with an anti-establishment stance, adopted a more accusatory tone. The emphasis has been on Zelensky’s personal networks and the implications of the use of Western aid, suggesting that the scandal was evidence of the systemic fragility of Ukrainian institutions. Here, corruption has often been linked to the management of Western military and financial aid, reinforcing a narrative of overall unreliability.
In summary, the difference does not concern the reported facts, but rather the interpretative framework. In Corriere, transparency is seen as proof of democratic maturity, while in Il Fatto the same scandal becomes confirmation of systemic fragility and inefficiency.
Greek media, concentration of power and European reputation
In Greece, too, coverage emphasised the scandal’s impact on Ukraine’s international credibility. To Vima, a progressive, centre-left newspaper, described Yermak as the president’s ‘right-hand man’, with ‘unprecedented’ influence over government decisions. The publication used terms such as “wounded” and “damaged” to describe Zelensky’s reputation after the investigation, emphasising how the president’s options are now more limited on the international stage and in US-led peace negotiations. To Vima also devoted an entire article to explaining how NABU and SAPO work, as well as the EU’s response to corruption, quoting the EU Commissioner for Justice: ‘Severe warning from the EU on corruption’.
Kathimerini, a liberal centre-right daily newspaper, interpreted the scandal as a structural problem in post-Soviet Ukraine, using the metaphor of the ‘Lernaean Hydra’: every time one episode of corruption is tackled, another emerges. Zelensky was described as ‘isolated’ and his containment measures as ‘slow and weak’, while Yermak was portrayed as the president’s shadow. Here too, the scandal was analysed in relation to internal and external pressure on the government, without questioning the path to EU accession.
In both cases, the Greek framework highlights a strong focus on the European perception of Ukraine, emphasising the central importance of respect for institutions and transparency in the management of power.
Test of institutional resilience
Analysts offer a fundamental interpretation key to understanding the real significance of the scandal.
Olga Tokariuk, a Ukrainian journalist and political analyst, points out that the perception of Ukraine as a highly corrupt country is rooted in decades of post-Soviet practices, but since 2014, after the Revolution of Dignity, institutional tools that did not exist before have been developed. “The fact that high-level cases are coming to light and involving people close to power shows that independent control mechanisms exist,” she notes. For Tokariuk, the war has not suspended democratic control: if anti-corruption agencies are operating under military and political pressure, this is a sign of institutional resilience.
Daniel Hegedüs, an analyst at the German Marshall Fund and an expert on governance and European enlargement, emphasises the European dimension of the problem: “The European Union does not evaluate the total absence of corruption — which does not exist in any system — but the ability to investigate, prosecute and punish even at the highest levels of power.” According to Hegedüs, every high-profile scandal inevitably becomes a political test for the most sceptical Member States, and the handling of the case can weigh more heavily than the case itself in accession negotiations.
Another perspective comes from Kataryna Wolczuk, professor of European politics at the University of Birmingham, who interprets the episode within the broader context of Ukraine’s institutional transformation. “Ukraine is undergoing a phase of accelerated reforms under extraordinary conditions, and it is precisely this simultaneity between war and European integration that exposes every vulnerability to amplified visibility,” she observes. The litmus test, according to Wolczuk, is not the absence of scandals, but the continuity of reforms and the protection of the independence of anti-corruption institutions in the long term.
Corruption, perception and war
The Midas scandal fits into a context where corruption is also a tool of propaganda. Russia, for example, has sought to turn every high-profile episode into evidence of Ukraine’s alleged ‘total corruption’, ignoring the actual functioning of anti-corruption institutions. As Artur Koldomasov, an analyst at Detector Media, observes, ‘the Russians manipulate real facts and invent falsehoods, spreading narratives that Ukraine is irredeemably corrupt, while remaining silent about their own internal practices’.
According to Transparency International 2025 data, Ukraine ranks 104th out of 182 countries, with a score of 36 out of 100, a slight improvement over the previous year (Transparency International). Russia, on the other hand, scores only 22 points, ranking 157th. This shows that, despite the war and scandals, Ukraine is gaining momentum in the fight against corruption.
Surveys confirm a similar picture: according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), the perception of corruption is still widespread, but 57% of Ukrainians believe that the country is making real efforts to tackle it. The proportion of those who consider Ukraine to be ‘hopelessly corrupt’ has fallen from 40% to 35%.
Implications for the EU and international support
The impact of the Midas scandal is measured above all in terms of international trust. Media narratives, expert assessments and statistical data influence European political support. The EU and its Western partners do not demand the total absence of corruption, but the ability to respond in a transparent and consistent manner, which is a necessary condition for continuing military and financial aid and ensuring European integration.
The scandal demonstrates that Ukraine is still vulnerable, but also that it has the tools to address its weaknesses. According to experts, the handling of the case and the continuity of reforms will determine the country’s perception of reliability and international credibility more than the scandal itself.
The Midas scandal is more than just a legal case: it is a mirror reflecting European perceptions of Ukraine, the concentration of power around the president, the strength of anti-corruption institutions and the democratic maturity of the country in wartime. The European media are not just reporting on a case of corruption, but on the idea of Ukraine as a fragile state or a democracy under pressure that is strengthening its institutional defences.
The central question is not whether Ukraine has corruption problems — which, as experts and international data show, exist as in many countries in transition — but whether it has the institutional capacity to tackle them openly, even when they affect figures close to the president. A decisive part of Ukraine’s European future hinges on this fine line between vulnerability and resilience. (photo by Maksym Diachenko on Unsplash)
This content was produced as part of PULSE, a European initiative supporting cross-border journalism collaborations led by OBCT, together with n-ost and Voxeurop. Sofia Nazarenko (Ukraine), Andrea Braschayko (Italy) and Odysseas Grammatikakis (Greece) contributed to the project.
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