Umerov declines new comment as Midas recordings raise questions over arms talks

In a comment to the outlet, Umerov’s press service stressed that he had already provided law enforcement agencies with “all necessary explanations on the issues they asked about” in November 2025. As National Security and Defense Council secretary, Umerov cannot comment on materials in a criminal proceeding, his press service said.

The press service also said that a defense minister’s communication on weapons supplies for Ukraine’s Defense Forces is part of the job. “Businesses regularly raise issues of payments, contracts, scaling up production and the need for rapid financing,” Umerov’s press service said.

The recordings include fragments of conversations between businessman Tymur Mindich and Umerov, who was Ukraine’s defense minister at the time, about the possible purchase of Fire Point products and body armor, as well as Umerov’s possible appointment as ambassador to the United States and then-Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal’s possible appointment as defense minister.

Ukrainska Pravda published the excerpts on April 28. Besides Umerov, former first assistant to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Serhii Shefir and a woman identified only as Natalia, with no surname given, appeared in the conversations with Mindich. Journalists said all the conversations were conducted in Russian and recorded in the summer of 2025 at Mindich’s apartment at 9a Hrushevskoho St.

On April 28, Umerov addressed the Verkhovna Rada after lawmakers summoned him to explain his role in the Midas case. The National Security and Defense Council secretary said he had already provided all explanations to law enforcement and did not plan to give an additional report to parliament.

On Nov. 11, 2025, a prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office said businessman Tymur Mindich had influenced former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and Rustem Umerov, the current National Security and Defense Council secretary and former defense minister, throughout 2025.