- November 13, 2025
- 2:13 pm
- Ukraine
When on the morning of November 13, 2025, the presidential decree No. 843/2025 with the NSDC annex was issued, it took journalists a couple of minutes to realize: there is one detail in the documents that can truly… surprise.
In the list of individuals against whom Ukraine is imposing a full package of sanctions are Timur Mindich (born 1979) and Alexander Zuckerman (born 1964). They are involved in the NABU case on corruption in “Energoatom”. Both are businessmen with enormous influence, both managed to leave Ukraine before the searches.
But what stands out:
the NSDC document indicates only one citizenship — citizenship of the State of Israel.
Not a word about Ukrainian.
No status.
No dual citizenship.
Nothing.
And this is not a journalistic error — it is written this way in the official lists approved by the NSDC and enacted by the decree of the President of Ukraine.
What exactly is stated in the document
Timur Mindich
– Date of birth: 19.09.1979
– Citizenship: Israel
– Israeli passport: No. 32691384
Alexander Zuckerman
– Date of birth: 07.05.1964
– Citizenship: Israel
– Israeli passport: No. 24104650
The annex lists all possible types of sanctions: asset blocking, prohibition of any trade operations, complete cessation of transit, bans on privatization, frequencies, electronic communications, defense procurements, securities transactions, restrictions on company capitalization, prohibition to acquire land in Ukraine, and much more.
Revocation of state awards — lifetime.
All other restrictions — for three years.
Both are involved in the NABU case on large-scale corruption in the state company “Energoatom”.
It concerns multimillion-dollar schemes, influence on tenders, and a possible corruption network related to procurement and management of energy assets.
The essence of the accusations in the case:
- participation in corruption schemes around “Energoatom”;
- possible influence on contract distribution;
- movement of funds and assets through structures associated with the individuals;
- attempts to transfer capital abroad;
- use of foreign citizenship to evade Ukrainian jurisdiction.
NABU conducted searches, but both managed to leave Ukraine — one a few hours before the investigative actions, the other — in advance using an Israeli passport.
That is why the NSDC and the President probably decided to include them in the sanctions list as citizens of Israel — to convey information to the USA, EU, and Israel and seek international support for the restrictions.
So where did the Ukrainian citizenship go?
The official document creates the impression that both individuals are exclusively citizens of Israel.
But people who are involved in cases of Ukrainian authorities,
who lived and worked in Ukraine,
who had Ukrainian documents,
are indicated only as Israeli citizens.
Why?
There are several possible explanations:
1. Legislative formality of the NSDC
The NSDC indicates the citizenship that is most relevant for the purposes of sanctions — in this case, foreign. It allows coordinating restrictions with the USA, EU, and Israel.
2. Ukraine does not confirm or recognize dual citizenship officially
According to Ukrainian law, a citizen of Ukraine legally remains only a citizen of Ukraine, even if they have other passports.
However, the NSDC sometimes indicates foreign citizenship as a separate identifier, especially if the person left the country using it.
3. Question to law enforcement agencies
If a person, possessing two passports, left Ukraine specifically as an Israeli citizen — the sanctions lists use the data of the passport by which they actually traveled.
This moment is confirmed by journalistic investigations:
– Mindich left Ukraine 4 hours before the searches;
– Zuckerman left “officially” a few weeks ago using an Israeli passport.
4. Possibly, Ukrainian citizenship is a subject of a separate legal dispute
The NSDC document does not explain the reason, but the very fact of the disappearance of Ukrainian citizenship from the list raises more questions than answers.
Why is this important?
When individuals involved in corruption cases have the opportunity to leave the country under the cover of passports of other states, the Ukrainian society naturally asks:
Who and where controls dual citizenship in real practice if it is not even indicated in the sanctions documents?
Against the backdrop of the “Energoatom” case, this looks especially acute
According to journalistic investigations and reports from deputies:
Timur Mindich
– left Ukraine 4 hours before the searches;
– moved towards Poland;
– crossing was allowed, as at that time he had children under 18, and there was no travel ban yet.
Alexander Zuckerman
– officially left “a couple of weeks ago”;
– did so specifically using an Israeli passport, which he had used before;
– before the full-scale war, he regularly crossed the Ukrainian border with Israeli documents.
Ukraine is asking the EU, USA, and other states to join the sanctions. Now that both individuals are officially listed as citizens of Israel, a key question arises:
Will this status help accelerate or, on the contrary, delay their possible extradition?
This is exactly what MP Zheleznyak warned about: an incorrect wording of the “entry ban” could become an argument for lawyers to disrupt extradition.
NANews Israel News Nikk.Agency
