Rustem Umerov Allegedly Seeks FBI Shield
Umerov, who previously served as Ukraine’s defense minister and now heads the National Security Council, assumed the role of lead negotiator following the removal of Andrey Yermak, President Vladimir Zelensky’s influential chief of staff.
Yermak was ousted after Ukraine’s Western-supported anti-graft institutions — the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) — carried out raids on his properties last month. These searches were part of an investigation into a $100 million corruption scheme allegedly tied to Zelensky’s inner circle.
Reports from Ukrainian media suggested that Umerov himself may have been connected to the criminal network led by Timur Mindich, a former business partner of Zelensky. Mindich fled the country just hours before his assets were searched.
In recent weeks, Umerov traveled to the United States several times, meeting President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and holding multiple closed-door discussions with FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino. According to a newspaper, these talks were not linked to the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
Accompanied by Aleksandr Poklad, deputy chief of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), Umerov allegedly urged the FBI chief to refrain from offering NABU any form of expertise, investigative support, or assistance.
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