The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, has completed another foreign business trip and returned to Ukraine on November 20. This information was confirmed by the head of the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council’s office, Diana Davityan.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Details of the Return and Business Trips
According to Davityan, this is already Umerov’s twelfth business trip since his appointment as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. She emphasized that such trips are a common practice in the work of the head of the National Security and Defense Council and should not cause unnecessary excitement.
“Yes, he has returned from the business trip. I also want to note that this is already his twelfth trip since his appointment as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. And business trips are an absolutely normal part of our life, which we do not make a fuss about,” she said.
Earlier, Davityan reported that Umerov’s foreign trip was supposed to last until November 19 inclusive. During the trip, according to the Center for Counteracting Disinformation, Umerov was in the USA, where he held a series of important working consultations and meetings aimed at strengthening international support for Ukraine.
Context and Denial of Rumors
The Center for Counteracting Disinformation emphasized that the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council remained in contact with the country’s leadership and fulfilled all assigned tasks, continuing to work on key issues of security, defense, and humanitarian policy.
Earlier, rumors had emerged in the information space about a possible refusal by Umerov to return to Ukraine due to an investigation into large-scale corruption in the energy sector. However, these claims were publicly denied by the Center for Counteracting Disinformation. Rustem Umerov himself did not comment on these assumptions.
Umerov previously stated that any attempts to link his work in the Ministry of Defense with the influence of outsiders are unfounded.
On November 11, the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, Sergey Savitsky, reported that former business partner of President Volodymyr Zelensky from “Quarter 95,” Timur Mindich, had influence over former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and Rustem Umerov, who currently heads the National Security and Defense Council.
According to NABU and SAP, Mindich led a criminal organization that organized large-scale corruption schemes in the energy sector. On November 10, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine announced the exposure of this group, which was engaged in systematic illicit gains from “Energoatom” contractors ranging from 10% to 15% of the contract amounts. According to the investigation, approximately 100 million US dollars were laundered through a back office in central Kyiv.
According to sources in law enforcement, Timur Mindich left the territory of Ukraine shortly before the searches on November 10. He has not commented on the situation at this time.