Zelenskyy ally Andriy Yermak resigns amid corruption probe

Andriy Yermak resigned as Ukrainian President’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff on Friday. 

Yermak’s resignation came just after his home, and reportedly his office, were searched as part of a corruption probe by authorities earlier in the day.

Why has Ukraine’s Yermak resigned?

Yermak is accused of being tied to a kickback scheme involving Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power company Energoatom.

The exit lands as a sweeping investigation into high-level graft has drawn in senior officials and intensified public frustration.

Zelenskyy said Yermak had submitted his resignation and that he would review candidates for the post on Saturday.

“Russia very much wants Ukraine to make mistakes,” Zelenskyy said in a video address. “There will be no mistakes on our part. Our work continues.”

The bribery scandal at Energoatom comes at a time when Kyiv is under intense US pressure to sign a peace deal, nearly four years after Russia invaded.

Who is Andriy Yermak?

The 54-year-old Yermak has long been close to Zelenskyy, dating back to the president’s years as a TV comedian. He helped steer Zelenskyy’s 2019 outsider bid for the presidency.

Yermak had led Kyiv’s team at tense US-backed peace negotiations.

While he has not been named a suspect, opposition lawmakers and some members of Zelenskyy’s own party had urged his dismissal during what has become Ukraine’s most serious political crisis of the war.

Earlier on Friday, Yermak confirmed that investigators were searching his apartment and said he was fully cooperating.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office said the searches were “authorized” and tied to an unspecified investigation.

Earlier this month, both anti-corruption bodies announced a sweeping probe into the alleged $100 million (€86 million) kickback scheme at Energoatom, a case that has drawn in former senior officials and a onetime business partner of Zelenskyy.

The US-backed peace initiative has been unfolding as Russian forces push forward along several sections of the vast front. Moscow says its troops are nearing control of the eastern city of Pokrovsk, which would mark their most significant gain in almost two years.

In an interview with The Atlantic this week, Yermak said “no one should count on us giving up territory.”