The Weekend Intelligence: Operation Midas

周末情报:米达斯行动

The Intelligence from The Economist

2025-12-06

43 分钟
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Ukraine has been hit by a corruption scandal. One that strikes at the core of the political establishment in a way never before seen—and this in a country with a long and turbulent history of corruption. It has toppled President Zelensky's right-hand man. It could mean the President himself won't survive re-election when the war is over. And the timing couldn't be worse—right in the middle of a peace deal Ukraine has had little part in composing. The Economist's Ukraine correspondent, Ollie Carroll, has been following the scandal and the investigation that brought it crashing to the surface for months. On The Weekend Intelligence he takes us deep inside "Operation Midas”. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+ For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Music by Blue dot and Epidemic This podcast transcript is generated by third-party AI. It has not been reviewed prior to publication. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the transcript, its accuracy or its completeness, and we disclaim all liability regarding its receipt, content and use. If you have any concerns about the transcript, please email us at podcasts@economist.com.
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  • The timing couldn't be worse.

  • The war in Ukraine has been dragging on for nearly four long years.

  • America and Russia are banding a peace plan that Ukraine had little part in composing.

  • And now the president's closest confidant is in the headlines, for all the wrong reasons.

  • And that's just one part of the giant crisis now engulfing the country.

  • Ukraine's history of corruption is long and torrid.

  • When Volodymyr Zelensky was elected in 2019,

  • he campaigned as an anti-establishment figure who promised to root out fraud.

  • Things did seem to be getting better.

  • But now, detectives have unearthed the biggest corruption scandal in Ukraine's history.

  • Today, we're going to track that scandal and that of Operation Midas,

  • the multi-agency probe into how $100 million, probably more,

  • was stolen from a country at war by its own elite.

  • This story has everything.

  • Crazy codenames like Che Guevara, Alibaba and Rocket.

  • It has bribes, bugs, spy cams and luxury villas.

  • And like all good oligarch dramas, it has a golden toilet.

  • It might be salacious, but for the bigger picture.

  • An existential war in Europe, a president who will not bend,

  • government bodies that fear being branded traitors if they act, and traitors if they don't.