MOSCOW, December 15. /TASS/. Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov has not returned to Ukraine since the beginning of the current round of peace plan talks with the American side, a Ukrainian lawmaker noted.
"Dear friends, how many days has Umerov been absent from Ukraine?" Alexey Goncharenko (designated as terrorist and extremist in Russia) wrote on his Telegram channel.
Umerov was appointed to lead Ukraine’s delegation to the talks with the US side on November 29 in place of Vladimir Zelensky’s office head Andrey Yermak, who had been dismissed following police raids at his office and apartment as part of a corruption case. After his appointment, Umerov has held several rounds of talks with the US delegation, first in the United States, and then in Europe. This appointment makes it possible for Umerov to delay his return to Ukraine where he may also be subject to corruption charges.
According to the Ukrainian mass media, it is not ruled out that the exposure of a large-scale corruption scheme in Ukraine’s energy sector may be followed by similar probes into the involvement of top officials in corruption schemes in the defense sector, in particular in what concerns procurements. Umerov’s name surfaced in connection with the Mindich case as, according to investigators, being the defense minister, he let Mindich interfere into the defense sphere. The notorious businessman reportedly talked Umerov into purchasing $5.2 million of low-quality bullet-proof vests for the Ukrainian army. On November 25, Umerov was questioned by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) on this case as a witness.