Zelensky-Style Sanctions: The 'Mindich Case' vs. the 'UOJ Case'

A corruption scandal is flaring up in Ukraine. Photo: UOJ

This editorial originally appeared on UOJ's Ukrainian site.

At the end of October 2025, an event took place in Ukraine that cannot fail to alarm everyone who values freedom of speech and religion. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree imposing sanctions on journalists and editors of the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) and the project First Cossack.

These people are not officials, not oligarchs, not corrupt businessmen. Their only “crime” is covering events surrounding the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Earlier, criminal cases had already been opened against them on charges of state treason, carrying the threat of life imprisonment. Now sanctions have followed for a term of 10 years: seizure of property, bans on financial transactions, bans on movement within Ukraine, restrictions on the use of telephones, and more.

And just a few days later, the world was shocked by the biggest corruption scandal in Ukraine in recent years. The figures involved included not only ministers from the country’s top leadership, but also close friends of Zelensky from the Kvartal 95 comedy group. These people were stealing money allocated for the energy sector, and possibly even for Ukraine’s defense capabilities. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau showed packs of U.S. dollars found during searches, still sealed in American bank packaging. There is no doubt that this was money the country had received as aid from Western partners.

On November 13, Zelensky imposed sanctions on the corrupt actors who, according to investigators, stole more than $100 million. Logic suggests that stealing hundreds of millions during wartime is a real crime against the country — unlike journalists who simply wrote the truth about the Church.

However, the sanctions against the corrupt officials turned out to be purely symbolic. What is happening?

Sanctions Against Journalists: Freedom of Speech Under Fire

On October 31, 2025, Zelensky enacted a decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) imposing personal sanctions on individuals associated with the Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) and the First Cossack media resource.

Considering that these punishments were applied to people whose only offense was showing how the authorities violate freedom of speech and the rights of believers in Ukraine, the measures can be called unprecedented.

The sanctions include:

• blocking of accounts and assets;
• a ban on distributing media content within Ukraine;
• termination of electronic communication services (phone and internet);
• restrictions on trade operations;
• blocking of UOJ websites and social media pages.

Moreover, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been instructed to inform the European Union and the United States about these measures — so that they might “follow the example” and introduce similar restrictions.

In other words, the Ukrainian authorities have officially equated journalists defending the canonical Church with top-level enemies of the state, declaring their work a threat to national security. None of these journalists betrayed the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stole humanitarian aid, or demanded kickbacks. Their only “weapons” are a computer, a camera, and a phone. All the materials they publish are openly available (still), and anyone can visit the UOJ website or social networks to see the full extent of their “crimes.” Believe us — nothing more subversive than well-argued criticism of the OCU can be found there.

Who Is Stealing Millions?

Meanwhile, a scandal has erupted in Kyiv, already dubbed “Mindichgate” by the media.

According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, Zelensky’s close friend and associate — Timur Mindich, co-owner of Kvartal 95 — is accused of leading a major corruption scheme in the energy sector. The scheme included kickbacks of up to 15% from contracts of the major state enterprise Energoatom.

The scandal involves hundreds of millions of dollars — money intended for energy modernization and strengthening Ukraine’s defense during wartime.

Also involved in the investigation is businessman Oleksandr Zuckerman, another person close to the president’s inner circle. Both men, according to press reports, were warned and managed to leave Ukraine before searches began. At the same time, ministers of justice, energy, a former deputy prime minister, and possibly other high-ranking officials may also be implicated.

The Ukrainian government proposed 10-year sanctions against Mindich and Zuckerman. Zelensky’s decree, however, approved them for only three years.

Curiously, the sanctions document lists Mindich and Zuckerman as citizens of Israel, not Ukraine. This introduces a particular cynicism, for several reasons:

1. Two days earlier, the head of the Border Guard Service stated publicly that Mindich had officially left Ukraine “because he has three children under 18.” But if he is an Israeli citizen, why does he need children to leave? He could have traveled freely on an Israeli passport. Either the border service doesn’t know which passport he used, or the public is being misled.
2. If the sanctions are imposed on “Israeli citizen Mindich,” then which Mindich exactly is subject to restrictions — the Ukrainian businessman or some Israeli citizen with the same name?
3. Most importantly, imposing sanctions on Israeli citizens Mindich and Zuckerman allows Ukrainian citizens Mindich and Zuckerman (against whom no sanctions were imposed) to freely manage property, accounts, and assets within Ukraine.

Thus, full prohibitions for 10 years were imposed on the UOJ journalists. But Mindich and Zuckerman received only three-year restrictions, which — if they remain Ukrainian citizen s— hardly affect them at all.

This is despite the fact that the sanctions against the UOJ are based on unproven and vague accusations of “propaganda,” ties to the UOC, and supposed ties with Russia (which do not exist). Meanwhile, the corrupt actors are accused of stealing allied funds and laundering money on a massive scale. One particularly telling detail found in case files is a statement from one of the accused: “Two million (dollars?) went to Moscow.”

This makes the situation maximally cynical.

How Is Kvartal 95 Different From the UOC?

Mindich and Zelensky are connected by years of working together in Kvartal 95, the comedy project that launched the president’s career.

When the scandal broke, Kvartal 95 quickly claimed that although Mindich has a legal connection to the studio (despite effectively owning it), “he does not participate in its activities and does not influence the content or the team’s decisions.”

There is a clear irony here. These are almost the exact words representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have repeated for years about their relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church: a canonical link, but no control, no appointments, no interference. Moscow cannot simply dissolve the UOC the way Mindich could dissolve Kvartal.

But when it comes to the Church, Zelensky and his circle constantly claim the opposite. UOC believers are accused of “ties to Moscow,” and on that basis monasteries are closed, monks expelled, and journalists sanctioned. Yet when it concerns the president’s personal friends, suddenly the logic changes completely: “Yes, there is a legal connection, but we bear no responsibility.”

If the accusations directed at the UOC were applied to Kvartal 95, the studio would have to be shut down, and sanctions imposed on everyone involved. Likewise, the Ukrainian Parliament, the Cabinet of Ministers, and — most importantly — the NSDC would all have to be dissolved, since three of its members, including Umerov, appear in the Mindich audio recordings.

After all, it was precisely the NSDC — whose members are now accused of stealing millions in public funds — that recently imposed sanctions on journalists tied to the UOC. Why are these state structures not dismantled, but the Church must be banned?

Probably because “this is different.”

Conclusions

It is clear that the sanctions against journalists defending the UOC appear to be a tool of political revenge. Meanwhile, sanctions against corrupt individuals from Zelensky’s inner circle are a crude imitation of justice.

The first group consists of people who write about faith and the Church, and who do not write about politics unless politics interferes in the life of the Church. The second group profits from war, tears, and the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

But only the first group is declared a threat to national security.

For anyone who sincerely believes in democratic values and human rights, the situation should be obvious: in a country that proudly calls itself a “fortress of democracy,” journalists are punished for telling the truth, while corrupt officials are shielded. Perhaps because words are feared more than missiles. And this is no surprise. Regarding the Ukrainian authorities, one could apply Christ’s words: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites… you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25).

Let us remind the Ukrainian government, which claims to strive toward Europe: religious freedom and freedom of the press are not slogans for the West — they are foundations of civilization. Violating them cannot remain without consequences. “Everything hidden will be revealed.”

The UOJ journalists committed no crimes — they defended the Church of millions of Ukrainians. Yet they receive the harshest sanctions. Meanwhile, officials who steal during wartime and commit lawlessness remain effectively untouchable.

This is the true scale of the gap between Ukraine’s democratic declarations and its actual practice.

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