Anti-corruption activists doubt that former Defense Minister Umerov will return to Ukraine from Turkey

The executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Daria Kaleniuk, hinted that she doubts NSDC secretary Rustem Umerov will return from Turkey, where—according to the official version—he went to hold talks on prisoner exchanges.

Kaleniuk wrote this on her Facebook page.

“Right now a hearing is underway to choose preventive measures for the figures in the Mindich case investigation. The SAPO prosecutor notes in his statement: ‘In the course of 2025, facts were established of Mindich’s criminal activity in the energy sector by influencing Energy Minister Halushchenko and in the defense sector by exerting influence on Defense Minister Umerov.’ Meanwhile, Umerov writes that he has gone to Turkey and the Middle East to work on exchanges of our prisoners. Well, I hope Umerov returns to Ukraine. And we’re waiting for the results of exchanges during this visit. Maybe Mindich was taken prisoner and needs to be freed from somewhere. It’s also surprising that Halushchenko hasn’t yet left on any business trip,” she said.

She was answered by the NSDC secretary’s spokesperson, Diana Davityan, who accused Kaleniuk of lobbying the interests of some American company.

“Your irony on the topic of prisoners of war and detained civilians is utterly stupid and out of place. The results of the exchanges that Rustem and the team are working on—over 7,000 have returned home… And what are you doing, besides cheap manipulations, is unclear. And just for my own understanding: when for half a year you tried, through the defense minister, to get a $20 million aircraft-modernization project signed via some American company, is that considered ‘exerting influence on the defense minister’? And surprisingly, none of the partners or companies at the meetings—when we asked about this project—knew anything about it,” Davityan wrote.

Earlier, a SAPO prosecutor stated that facts had been established of Mindich’s criminal activity in the energy sector by influencing Energy Minister Halushchenko and in the defense sector by exerting influence on Defense Minister Umerov.

Umerov himself said that “any attempts to link his work at the Ministry of Defense with the ‘influence’ of any individuals are baseless.”