Requests drafted for top suspects' extradition from Israel in Ukraine's biggest graft case, detective says

Politics Requests drafted for top suspects' extradition from Israel in Ukraine's biggest graft case, detective says March 31, 2026 5:38 pm • 3 min read Prefer on Google by Oleg Sukhov The National Anti-Corruption Bureau has drafted requests to extradite two suspects in the Midas corruption case from Israel, Oleksandr Abakumov, the detective in charge of the case, said late on March 30. The draft requests for Timur Mindich , a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky, and businessman Oleksandr Tsukerman were sent for approval to Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko two weeks ago, Ababumov said in an interview with blogger Olena Tribushna. The Prosecutor General's Office did not respond to a request for comment. The Midas operation, which was launched last year, is the biggest corruption investigation during Zelensky's presidency and targets graft at state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom and in the defense industry. Nine suspects have been charged in the case. Apart from Mindich and Tsukerman, these include ex-Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov and former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko . Zelensky's ex-Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak and Rustem Umerov , former defense minister and current secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, are also under investigation in the case but have not been charged yet. The prosecutor general has not yet approved the extradition requests for Mindich and Tsukerman, according to Abakumov. “We have submitted it to the Prosecutor General’s Office," he said. "It seems to me that the prosecutor general should sign this extradition request as soon as possible. However, there may indeed be procedures for reviewing the justification directly within the Prosecutor General’s Office.” Abakumov admitted that Israel extradites its citizens very seldom but added that there have been cases when Israel extradited its citizens to Ukraine. “Israel is a very difficult country for extradition," he said. "In order to ...