German Galushchenko (left) and Ukraine`s President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant in February, 2025. (Picture by Reuters)

Ukraine`s former minister of energy and justice, German Galushchenko, has been detained after attempting to exit the country, follwing major corruption charges.

Galushchenko, who resigned last November amid a major corruption scandal, was detained on Sunday while attempting to cross the border into Poland.

"Today, while crossing the border, NABU detectives detained a former energy minister as part of the Midas case," Ukraine`s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) announced in a statement.

Galushchenko, Ukraine`s former energy minister from 2021 to July 2025 and later justice minister until his resignation in November, is reportedly implicated in the ongoing anti-corruption probe into the state nuclear power company, Energoatom.

The investigation by the anti-corruption bureau alleges that the ringleader and the mastermind behind a $100 million energy-sector kickback scheme is a businessman named Timur Mindich.

Mindich is a close associate and former business partner of Ukraine`s President Volodymyr Zelensky. He is also the co-owner of Kvartal 95, a production company founded by Zelensky.

In 2019, after assuming the presidency, Zelensky transferred his stake in the company to his partners.

Reports on the graft case indicate that Mindich, who holds an Israeli passport, was warned by authorities to leave the country just as Zelensky was signing a decree imposing sanctions on him.

The businessman reportedly departed Ukraine hours before the sanctions were enacted, while NABU agents secured warrants to search his properties.

Earlier media reports claimed that NABU had wiretapped conversations between Mindich and Galushchenko during which the two allegedly discussed financial flows.

Mindich has publicly confirmed being acquainted with Galushchenko but insisted that he issued no instructions to the former minister.

Investigators from NABU stated that, as a result of the conspirators` illegal transactions in the energy deal kickback scheme, Galushchenko received significant personal benefits during a period marked by widespread and routine power cuts caused by the war.