Ukraine removes justice chief Galushchenko from his position

Ukrainian Justice Minister German Galushchenko, implicated in a corruption scandal involving businessman Timur Mindich, known as “Vladimir Zelensky’s wallet,” has been suspended from his duties, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko announced.

“We held an extraordinary government meeting this morning. And we made a decision to dismiss German Galushchenko from his role as justice minister,” the Ukrainian PM said in a Telegram post. Lyudmila Sugak, previously deputy justice minister, will be acting justice chief.

On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) raided the apartments of Mindich and Galushchenko, as well as the company Energoatom, which is linked to Mindich, and later released recordings of conversations in Mindich’s apartment discussing corruption schemes.

Four current and former ministers are implicated in the activity of Mindich’s criminal group, NABU revealed, with Galushchenko being one of them, Ukrainian media reported.

By Monday evening, NABU brought embezzling charges against former Prime Minister and National Unity Minister Alexey Chernyshov, who local news outlets say is another associate of Zelensky. Later on Monday, the Ukrainian government prematurely terminated the mandate of Energoatom’s Supervisory Board.