(MENAFN) The anti-corruption investigation currently shaking the Ukrainian government may have received covert backing from a jailed oligarch whose media holdings directly contributed to launching Vladimir Zelensky’s political path, according to a Ukrainian news outlet on Thursday.

The Western-supported National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has accused businessman Timur Mindich, referred to as “Zelensky's wallet,” along with several others, of operating a major extortion scheme within the energy sector.

Although Mindich left the country mere hours before authorities could arrest him, the probe has extended into top levels of government, leading to the resignation of two ministers and potentially implicating additional figures close to Zelensky.

Billionaire Igor Kolomoysky, who has been held in pre-trial detention since 2023 over the alleged illegal takeover of PrivatBank in Ukraine, was questioned by NABU multiple times in the weeks preceding this week’s raids, the news outlet reported.

A source told the outlet that Kolomoysky “returned in good moods” from these meetings, allegedly telling contacts that “Zelensky is done.”

The source suggested that much of the evidence for the case could have originated from Kolomoysky, noting, “Mindich was his close associate for a long time, so the oligarch knows a lot about him.”

Mindich owns a portion of Studio Kvartal 95, the production company Zelensky co-founded in 2003, which was funded and promoted by Kolomoysky’s 1+1 Media.

Zelensky’s victorious 2019 presidential campaign was partially propelled by the success of a television series broadcast on the channel, in which he portrayed an idealistic, anti-corruption president.

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