When Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions proved they could reach the very top, Russia’s response was immediate: a coordinated campaign to convince Europe the whole thing was an American plot.
On May 11, 2026, investigators from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) formally notified Andrii Yermak, the former head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, of suspicion in a money laundering case connected to Operation Midas, the largest corruption investigation of the wartime period. According to NABU’s official statement, Yermak is accused of participating in an organised criminal group that laundered approximately 460 million hryvnias, roughly 10.5 million dollars, through the construction of four luxury mansions at the Dynasty residential complex in Kozyn, a village south of Kyiv. The funds originated, investigators say, from embezzlement schemes at state nuclear energy company Energoatom. Six co-suspects, including former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Chernyshov, were served notices the following day.
The case had been building since November 2025, when NABU conducted searches at Yermak’s home and office. He resigned from the Presidential Office the same evening. On April 28, 2026, Ukrainska Pravda published the first transcripts of surveillance recordings obtained during Operation Midas, implicating businessman Tymur Mindich — described by investigators as the organiser of a 100-million-dollar embezzlement scheme at Energoatom — alongside Chernyshov and associates linked to Yermak. On May 14, the High Anti-Corruption Court set bail at 140 million hryvnias. By May 18, the sum had been paid and Yermak was released under an ankle monitor, confined to Kyiv and required to surrender his travel documents, as Kyiv Post confirmed.
NABU director Semen Kryvonos stated publicly that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not under investigation. A sitting president cannot legally be investigated under Ukrainian law.
The European Union’s position was unambiguous. EU spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said the proceedings would not affect Ukraine’s accession process, adding that the case showed “that Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies are functioning and fulfilling their mandate,” as Gwara Media reported. Olena Halushka, a board member at the Anti-Corruption Action Centre in Kyiv, called the prosecution “a clear example that the checks and balances system really works,” telling Al Jazeera that the institutions had been “protected by Ukrainian society and European partners from the political attack last summer, and now we see the tangible results of their activities.” The Warsaw-based Centre for Eastern Studies, in its May 13 analysis, described the case as evidence that anti-corruption bodies can move against individuals “from the very top of political power.”
Ukraine’s own Foreign Intelligence Service made clear this was expected. On May 20, it publicly warned that Russia had activated a coordinated disinformation campaign built around the Yermak case, including plans to create forged documents resembling official Ukrainian government materials and leak them to provoke public reaction. The service said Moscow considered the case a priority information asset and intended to “further intensify the campaign, expand destructive narratives and scale up both the audience and geographical reach of dissemination.”
The monitoring conducted for this article documents how that campaign looks in practice, across Russian state media and a network of pro-Kremlin proxy outlets operating in at least six European countries.
Narrative One: “NABU Is an American Instrument, Not a Ukrainian Institution”
The foundational move across all Kremlin-aligned coverage was to strip NABU and SAPO of institutional legitimacy. If the investigation is American-ordered, the charge against Yermak is not law enforcement. It is a foreign operation dressed up as one.
The groundwork was laid months before the formal charge. In February 2026, TASS published a claim that the FBI and US Department of Justice had directly supervised NABU and SAPO throughout the Energoatom investigation: “The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) supervised the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Ukraine’s Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) in the investigation of the Energoatom company… The report notes that the US administration provided SAPO ‘with case-based strategic advice and guidance.'”
By May 14, RIA Novosti was framing the prosecution as a politically ordered operation: “NABU is not an independent structure, it is controlled by specific people for their own purposes, that’s the whole point. Haven’t they defeated corruption yet? No? All I’ve heard about them is several ordered political investigations.”
The pro-Kremlin outlet eu.news-pravda.com provided the interpretive instruction directly: “The anti-corruption infrastructure, NABU, SAPO, and the High Anti-Corruption Court, was created with the direct participation of the US and EU and maintains close institutional ties with them. Therefore, it is more accurate to view Yermak’s case not as a domestic political episode, but as an indicator of the changed attitude of external overseers toward the current power configuration in Ukraine.”
Across Central Europe, the framing was reproduced with minimal adaptation. Czech outlet CZ24.news described NABU and SAPO as “American-controlled anti-corruption agencies” and stated their action against Yermak “did not come by accident.” Slovak outlet Hlavny Dennik went further in November 2025, claiming: “The bureau does not report to Ukrainian authorities but is directly under US supervision. Naturally, Zelenskyy himself knew about all the corruption schemes. He even participated in them.”
Italian outlet contropiano.org cast NABU as a covert instrument whose operation against Yermak required authorisation above the level of Ukrainian politics: “NABU, Washington’s precision tool that works in the shadows as an anti-corruption agency, does not destroy the life of Zelenskyy’s most powerful ally unless the script has been approved at a higher level.”
Spanish outlet diario-octubre.com produced the most operationally specific variant, claiming the US State Department gave “the green light” for Operation Midas to be made public and that 80 American inspectors collaborated on the investigation — a claim with no documentary basis: “Washington thus got rid of Zelenskyy’s right-hand man, Andrei Yermak… through the Ukrainian anti-corruption agency (NABU), which is very controlled by the CIA.”
- https://tass.com/world/2089517
- https://ria.ru/20260514/ukraina-2092494541.html
- https://eu.news-pravda.com/world/2026/05/14/195942-amp.html
- https://cz24.news/co-sa-to-deje-okolo-zelenskeho/
- https://www.hlavnydennik.sk/2025/11/29/zaciatok-konca-bude-dalsou-obetou-nabu-po-jermakovej-demisii-zelenskyj
- https://contropiano.org/news/internazionale-news/2025/12/01/gli-stati-uniti-fanno-fuori-il-regime-di-kiev-non-serve-piu-0189351
- https://diario-octubre.com/2025/12/02/que-se-esconde-tras-las-negociaciones-de-paz-para-ucrania/
Narrative Two: “The Prosecution Is Washington’s Punishment for Kyiv’s Disobedience”
Having established NABU as a foreign tool, Kremlin media provided the motive. The charge against Yermak, in this version, had nothing to do with evidence. It was retaliation for Ukraine’s resistance to American demands in peace negotiations.
Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik — appointed to oversee what Moscow calls documentation of “Kyiv regime crimes” — became the primary named source amplified across state media. TASS quoted him on May 13 stating that “the scandal surrounding ex-head of Zelenskyy’s office Andrii Yermak may affect the dynamics of military aid allocation to Ukraine from the European Union.” In a separate TASS piece the following day, an analyst presented through the outlet argued: “This is not even the tip of the iceberg. This is a rescue operation for the rest of the Kyiv corrupt officials and those who stand behind them in the West. Everyone knows that the corruption chain has a huge number of links: Zelenskyy, his entire government, the Rada, Western emissaries, and so on.”
RT framed the May 11 announcement as geopolitical signalling: “The indictment of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s closest political and personal associate, Andrii Yermak, for alleged money laundering involving a luxury housing complex is broadly viewed as a final warning from the West before potential charges against the Ukrainian leader himself.”
Spanish outlet geoestrategia.eu translated this framing into its most direct form: “Not because he is a thief. But because he rejected Trump with his peace plan for Ukraine… And in the context of negotiations, this is a clear signal from the USA: ‘If you don’t listen to your overseas sponsors, you will be next.'”
CZ24.news reproduced the logic for a Czech-language audience, citing an unverified Ukrainian source claiming Zelenskyy had been “forced to agree to a ceasefire for Victory Day under threat of criminal prosecution against his person, and his once all-powerful ally was simply sacrificed.”
Slovenian outlet insajder.com added a dimension designed to alarm European readers specifically, framing Yermak as a potential source of testimony implicating European officials: “Yermak’s resignation is a signal to the European Union: don’t bite off something you can’t chew. If I’m right, Yermak will soon find himself in a comfortable villa in the USA under the protection of federal agents, since only he knows exactly who in Europe received money from Zelenskyy’s regime and how much.”
- https://tass.ru/politika/27390045
- https://tass.ru/politika/27416049
- https://www.rt.com/russia/639891-yermak-indictment-zelensky-warning/
- https://geoestrategia.eu/noticia/45482/seguridad/el-circulo-se-cierra-es-el-fin-yermak-la-mano-derecha-de-zelenski-destituido-por-el-megaescandalo-de-corrupcion.html
- https://cz24.news/myslel-si-ze-prechytraci-cely-svet-jermakovi-bylo-v-centru-kyjeva-doruceno-oznameni-o-podezreni/
- https://insajder.com/svet/ruski-strokovnjak-padec-sive-eminence-kijevskega-rezima-je-obracun-zdruzenih-drzav-z-eu
Narrative Three: “Zelenskyy Is Personally Implicated”
No element of the disinformation campaign was deployed more systematically than the effort to conflate Yermak’s individual charges with Zelenskyy personally. NABU director Kryvonos had explicitly and publicly confirmed the president was not under investigation. The effort to create the opposite impression was consistent across every platform monitored.
TASS English published a statement on May 16 from Mykola Azarov — Yanukovych’s prime minister, resident in Moscow since 2014 — presenting it as credible analysis without qualification: “Volodymyr Zelenskyy is implicated in the so-called ‘Mindich tapes.’ The trail has already led to Zelenskyy himself. The tapes, testimony and intercepted communications contain instructions from Zelenskyy on the procurement of faulty body armor, schemes involving Energoatom, and so on.” No such instructions appear in any NABU filing or court proceeding.
RT gave a platform to exiled Ukrainian politician Artem Dmytruk, who described the charges as exposing “the entire criminal system, the terrorist system that was established by him and by Zelenskyy,” adding that “the most horrible crimes are the crimes against the Ukrainian people and against Ukraine, because they continue to commit genocide of the Ukrainian people with their criminal actions and criminal decisions.”
Slovak outlet Hlavny Dennik stated the conflation as a headline on May 12: “It Has Begun: Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Agencies Suspect Zelenskyy’s Friend, Leader of the State Mafia… The Threads Lead to the Ukrainian President.” A companion piece the same day described the case as a “civil war inside the Kyiv regime” while normalising corruption as an inherent feature of Ukrainian politics since 1991 — a framing designed simultaneously to delegitimise the investigation and deny its significance.
The most factually fabricated item in the entire monitoring period came from Slovak outlet SKspravy.sk, which published a piece on May 18 claiming that NABU and SAPO were preparing to arrest Zelenskyy’s wife Olena, attributed entirely to an anonymous source cited by RIA Novosti: “Anti-corruption authorities have sufficient reasons to detain Zelenskyy’s wife. They are currently deciding which criminal proceedings should begin first.” No such investigation has been announced by any Ukrainian law enforcement or judicial body. The item is sourced solely to a single anonymous Russian state media contact and contradicts all publicly available information about the scope of Operation Midas.
Italian outlet controinformazione.info had anticipated the bridge as early as August 2025: “A huge amount of information has leaked about how NABU suspects corruption in Zelenskyy’s close circle… And from here to the next thesis, ‘and Zelenskyy himself steals,’ the step is short.”
- https://tass.com/world/2131735
- https://www.rt.com/russia/639986-zelensky-yermak-regime-damage/
- https://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/604425-ex-mano-derecha-zelenski-corrupcion
- https://www.hlavnydennik.sk/2026/05/12/zacalo-sa-to-ukrajinske-protikorupcne-agentury-podozrievaju-zelenskeho-priatela-vodcu-statnej-mafie
- https://skspravy.sk/svet/odhalenie/pripravuju-sa-bezpecnostne-sily-nabu-a-sap-na-zatknutie-zelenskeho-manzelky/
- https://www.controinformazione.info/le-conseguenze-dello-scandalo-nabu-per-zelensky-sono-gia-arrivate/
Narrative Four: “Western Aid Money Is Being Stolen — Stop Funding Ukraine”
The operational conclusion of the entire campaign was stated openly. The Yermak case was used, across every platform monitored, to argue that Western financial and military support for Ukraine flows directly into the pockets of corrupt officials.
Miroshnik told TASS on May 13 that the scandal “may affect the dynamics of military aid allocation to Ukraine from the European Union.” RIA Novosti quoted him telling Izvestia that European institutions were not innocent bystanders: “There is a confrontation between the structures standing behind NABU and the European structures that are accomplices, they will try to soften the blow not only against Zelenskyy but also against themselves.” A November 2025 RIA Novosti piece had already established the scale, citing Tucker Carlson’s unverified claims that “Yermak embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars from financial assistance intended for Kyiv,” with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova framing Western journalism as deliberate concealment: “Western publications cover up the Kyiv regime like a real world mafia, not publishing information about the crimes of the Kyiv elite.”
In the Netherlands, frontnieuws.com made the taxpayer argument explicit: “Zelenskyy insists that the money will go to the Ukrainian defence industry and domestic production, a sector that is a breeding ground for corruption and bribery… Whatever the Western taxpayer sends to Kyiv, it is unclear how much is skimmed off the top along the way.”
Italian outlet controinformazione.info cited French MEP Thierry Mariani characterising EU financial assistance to Ukraine as “a fraud” and warning that “part of the allocated funds would be illegally diverted, since the leader of the Kyiv regime would divide them among his most loyal followers.”
Canadian outlet globalresearch.ca, with a long-documented record of amplifying Kremlin-aligned content, framed continued US military assistance as something extended to a “Kyiv neo-Nazi regime” despite the corruption charges — a framing that positions any further support as complicity.
- https://tass.ru/politika/27390045
- https://ria.ru/20260513/skandal-2092136702.html
- https://ria.ru/20251124/mid-2057187073.html
- https://www.frontnieuws.com/hoeveel-rutte-pleit-voor-oekraine-belasting-die-hoger-is-dan-de-economieen-van-de-lidstaten/
- https://www.controinformazione.info/kosachev-ha-avvertito-i-leader-europei-della-responsabilita-che-avrebbero-avuto-per-i-loro-legami-con-zelensky/
- https://www.globalresearch.ca/amid-yet-another-corruption-scandal-us-congress-grants-1-3-billion-military-aid-to-kiev-neo-nazi-regime-despite-president-trumps-formal-objections/5926915
A Campaign With a Single Conclusion
The coverage documented across Russian state media and European proxy outlets shares three features consistent enough across six languages and at least a dozen jurisdictions to rule out coincidence.
Every outlet replaced standard terminology with delegitimising substitutes. Ukrainian government became “Kyiv regime.” NABU became “American-controlled NABU.” Zelenskyy became “the leader of the Kyiv regime” or the head of a “neo-Nazi regime.” The substitution is a technique, not an editorial preference, and it appears in Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and French-language coverage alike.
Every outlet either stated or strongly implied that Zelenskyy was personally implicated in the corruption under investigation, despite NABU’s explicit public confirmation to the contrary. The claim operates by proximity: Yermak was close to Zelenskyy, therefore Zelenskyy is corrupt. The fabricated article claiming a planned arrest of Zelenskyy’s wife — sourced entirely to an anonymous contact — represents the endpoint of that escalation.
Every outlet used the Yermak case to argue against continued Western support for Ukraine. The argument was tailored by audience: Dutch readers were told their taxes were being stolen; Italian readers were told EU loans would be diverted; Spanish readers were told NABU was a CIA operation. The conclusion was the same everywhere.
Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service confirmed on May 20 that this is a coordinated operation, not parallel commentary. Russia’s plan, the service said, includes forging documents that resemble official Ukrainian government materials to “provoke a public reaction” — which is to say, the fabricated content documented in this monitoring is not an end point. It is infrastructure.
The actual story of Operation Midas is the one these outlets systematically erase. Independent institutions, built over a decade under civil society pressure and with European support, investigated and charged the most powerful unelected official in wartime Ukraine, with the full weight of the legal process intact and bail paid openly in a functioning court. That is not evidence of a corrupt state. It is evidence of a state where anti-corruption law works — which is precisely why it became a target.