“Zelensky built his entire election campaign on the fact that war is profitable… It turns out that it really is profitable and they really make money from it,”Goncharenko said, calling the latest leak“something that should lead to Zelensky’s resignation.”
The Mindich tapes also suggested that Mindich was effectively running Fire Point and was discussing additional funding for the arms maker with then-Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. Mindich fled Ukraine late last year after being accused of orchestrating a $100 million graft scheme.
Last week, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Public Anti-Corruption Council said Fire Point would lose access to any government contracts at the very moment its ties to Mindich are“legally proven.”Its head, Yury Gudimenko, also said the council had already obtained“unofficial confirmation”of Mindich’s involvement with the company.
