- November 19, 2025
- 2:46 pm
- Israel
The story surrounding the co-founder of the “Kvartal-95” studio, Timur Mindich, has rapidly become one of the most high-profile episodes in Ukraine’s anti-corruption agenda. He left Ukraine just hours before a search and is now in Israel — and it is this fact that makes the topic of extradition particularly sensitive.
NABU Director Semyon Krivonos openly confirmed: the bureau is already working on all the procedural steps necessary to launch the international mechanism for Mindich’s return.
Where extradition begins
According to Krivonos, before the case reaches international search, the investigation needs to go through a whole legal route. This includes decisions by the HACC on preventive measures and a set of investigative actions, without which extradition cannot legally start.
He emphasizes: the process is still ahead, but the first steps have already been taken. NABU intends to bring it to the stage where it will be possible to officially initiate an international search.
Is it possible to return Mindich from Israel
Krivonos reminded: Israel has already had precedents of extraditing its citizens to foreign states. Therefore, legally it is possible. But such cases are always tied to subtle nuances — from legal status to intergovernmental agreements.
Extradition is a complex story, but not hopeless. And this is the principal message that NABU is currently voicing.
How do the figures in such cases behave
There is an important detail that the NABU director drew attention to: the figures rarely stay in one place. They travel, move between countries, cross air hubs. It is precisely such moments that create points of vulnerability — when law enforcement agencies can act faster than the suspect anticipates.
Therefore, the main task now is to achieve the inclusion of Mindich in the international search. This will allow Interpol and other structures to track routes and record border crossings.
Context: “Operation Midas” and the scale of the case
The Mindich case is just one part of a large investigation related to corruption in the energy sector. NABU and SAP have already published materials from “Operation Midas,” which featured some of the most influential energy structures in the country.
In this context, extradition becomes not just a legal procedure, but a test of the state’s ability to bring anti-corruption processes to completion — regardless of where the figures are located.
Main conclusion
The extradition process is long, multi-stage, and politically sensitive. But, as NABU emphasizes, there are no “default” obstacles here. Everything depends on the sequence of legal steps and international coordination.
The Mindich story has already become a test of the maturity of Ukrainian institutions. And it is precisely the course of this procedure that will determine what future such cases will have.
NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency
