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Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s powerful chief of staff and closest ally, Andriy Yermak, has resigned after Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies conducted searches at his apartment earlier today.
The abrupt departure of the aide, who had been leading the latest round of the delicate peace negotiations with the US, was announced by the Ukrainian president in a late-afternoon social media video on Friday.
Zelenskyy praised Yermak, but made clear that “there should be no reason to be distracted by anything other than the defence of Ukraine” at a time when Kyiv was dependent on retaining US support in the face of Russian territorial demands.
Yermak had submitted his resignation, the president said. The search for a successor would begin on Saturday and the powerful office of the president of Ukraine, which Yermak led, would be “reorganised” as part of the process.
“I am grateful to Andriy for always representing Ukraine’s position in the negotiation track exactly as it should be. It has always been a patriotic position. But I want there to be no rumours or speculation,” Zelenskyy said.
Journalists had filmed about 10 investigators entering Kyiv’s government quarter early in the morning, in a widening of the investigation into a nuclear energy kickback scandal allegedly run by an associate of the Ukrainian president who has fled the country.
Nabu, the national anti-corruption bureau, said it and the specialised anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, Sapo, were “conducting investigative actions at the head of the office of the president of Ukraine”.
A seemingly indispensable aide until today, Yermak was a former intellectual property lawyer and film producer who knew Zelenskyy in his days as an actor and comedian before helping him be elected as president. Yermak became a foreign policy adviser, then the president’s chief of staff in February 2020.
Rapidly he assumed a central position as Zelenskyy’s gatekeeper in the charge of the president’s office. He was routinely consulted on foreign policy, domestic affairs and appointments. Never far from Zelenskyy’s side, the two were particularly close during the early days of the invasion, when Kyiv was under threat.
Earlier, in a short statement, Yermak confirmed that searches were continuing at his home. “The investigators have no obstacles,” he added in a social media statement. “They were given full access to the apartment, my lawyers are on site, interacting with law enforcement officers. From my side, I have full cooperation.”
The energy corruption scandal first emerged earlier in November, but after days of damaging revelations it dropped down the news agenda when Donald Trump unexpectedly released a pro-Russian 28-point peace plan, in which the Kremlin demanded control of all the Donbas region before any ceasefire.
But Friday’s developments thrust the scandal back into the spotlight just as Ukraine had been carefully wooing the White House on a 19-point counterproposal, with Yermak fronting talks in Geneva with the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
Earlier in November, investigators from Nabu said they had uncovered a high-level criminal scheme at the heart of government. Insiders allegedly received kickbacks of 10%-15% from commercial partners of Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear power generator and Ukraine’s most important energy supplier.
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Timur Mindich, an old friend and business partner of the Ukrainian president in the Kvartal 95 TV production company, set up by Zelenskyy before he went into politics, was accused of being the organiser. Mindich fled abroad, leaving his apartment in Kyiv’s government district hours before investigators came to arrest him.
Zelenskyy himself has denounced the scheme. However, questions swirled in the days that followed about how much the most senior figures in government knew about what was happening, given how many others in or close to the administration have been accused of involvement.
Zelenskyy fired two ministers this month and the allegations have prompted widespread public outrage at a time when most Ukrainians are having to endure hours of daily electricity blackouts because of Russian bombing of energy infrastructure.
Another high-profile suspect is Oleksiy Chernyshov, a former deputy prime minister who was charged by Nabu for allegedly receiving $1.2bn (£900m) from participants in the anti-corruption scheme. Chernyshov allegedly spent some of the illicit cash building four luxury mansions in a new-build riverside plot south of Kyiv.
The anti-corruption investigation has been based on more than 1,000 hours of conversations recorded secretly by Nabu, details of which have been released to the media. In one, a suspect said it was a “pity” to build structures to defend power stations from Russian attacks since the money could be stolen instead.
The European Commission said the investigations showed that Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies were functioning. “We understand that investigations are ongoing, and we very much respect these investigations, which show that anti-corruption authorities in Ukraine are doing their job,” a spokesperson said.
