Lawyers linked to Zelenskyy's former top aide Yermak and Operation Midas suspect Mindich met in Israel – UP

An investigation by Ukrainska Pravda has revealed that Ihor Fomin, a lawyer who represents the former head of the Ukrainian President's Office, Andrii Yermak, travelled to Israel, where he met with the lawyer of Tymur Mindich, the businessman, former co-owner of the TV production company Kvartal 95, and the central suspect in Operation Midas. Fomin flew to Tel Aviv together with Ukraine's Ambassador to Israel.

Source: an Ukrainska Pravda investigation

Details: Ukrainska Pravda has learned that on 15 January, Yermak held a one-hour meeting with Yevhen Korniichuk, Ukraine's Ambassador to Israel, near the Office of the President of Ukraine.

On 25 January, a flight departed from Chișinău Airport, Moldova, to Tel Aviv. According to Ukrainska Pravda sources in law enforcement, Ukraine's Ambassador to Israel Yevhen Korniichuk and prominent lawyer Ihor Fomin were on board. The media outlet Dzerkalo Tyzhnia had previously reported that Fomin had become Yermak's lawyer.

Ambassador Korniichuk drove Fomin in an embassy vehicle to a hotel in the city of Herzliya, where Mindich also lives.

The following morning, the Ukrainian ambassador went to Fomin's hotel again.

According to Ukrainska Pravda sources, Korniichuk brought Yermak's lawyer to attend talks with Mindich. The sources explained that Yermak is interested in ensuring that Mindich does not testify against him, and therefore protection may have been offered to Mindich during the talks in exchange for his silence.

Ukrainska Pravda could not confirm whether Fomin managed to meet Mindich himself, as sources close to the businessman said he was very reluctant to appear in front of the cameras again.

However, it is known that Fomin met with Israeli lawyer Boris Lemper, who sources say represents Mindich.

In an interview with Ukrainska Pravda in December 2025, Mindich himself was unable to say who his lawyer was: at first he said that his lawyers had forbidden him to say anything on the subject, and later he insisted that he was still looking for lawyers.

For reference: Boris Lemper is known for representing clients in cases related to Russia and Ukraine. His firm provides expert legal opinions on matters of Ukrainian law for Israeli courts. Lemper's company website also states that the firm represents Russia's Channel One, the Russian airline Aeroflot, the Property Management Department of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem (the official representation of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Israel), and others.

According to the investigation, Yermak's lawyer stayed in Israel for only a few days and was also taken back to the airport in an official vehicle with diplomatic plates belonging to Ukraine's Embassy in Israel.

Ukrainska Pravda contacted Ihor Fomin, Ambassador Yevhen Korniichuk and Tymur Mindich for comment.

Mindich did not respond to the request, but said he would invite the outlet to a meeting to "give an interview" during which he would comment on these and other issues.

Korniichuk said he had been "friends with Fomin for about 25 years" and recalled that they did indeed fly to Israel together, but insisted that he "did not help arrange any meetings" and "does not know who he met".

Asked whether he had met with Yermak on 15 January, the ambassador said: "I can neither confirm nor deny it." He added that he has known Yermak since 2000 as they were partners in a legal practice, but stressed that they "had not been in touch for many years before his appointment".

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