Umerov declines new comment as Midas recordings raise questions over arms talks
National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov declined to give new comments in the Midas case. (Photo: AFP)
Law enforcement must determine the authenticity and
relevance of recordings in the Midas case that NABU documented and media
outlets published the previous day, the press service of National Security and
Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov said, Interfax-Ukraine
reported on April 29.
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.
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