Top Zelenskyy aide quits amid Ukraine corruption allegations

Aliaksandr Kudrytski and Volodymyr Verbianyi, Bloomberg News on Nov 28, 2025

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his powerful chief of staff and lead negotiator in peace talks, Andriy Yermak, resigned after becoming ensnared in a corruption investigation.

Zelenskyy said in a video posted on Telegram that he will hold consultations Saturday with potential candidates to replace Yermak. The president didn’t elaborate on his chief of staff’s decision.

“There will be a reboot of the Office of the President of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in the video. “I am grateful to Andriy for always representing Ukraine’s position in the negotiation track exactly as it should be. It was always a patriotic position. But I want there to be no rumors or speculation.”

The move followed a search of Yermak’s apartment by anti-graft investigators early Friday. While the authorities didn’t explain the raid, it followed news of a widening probe involving several ministers and one of Zelenskyy’s former business partners.

Yermak said he was cooperating fully with the investigation.

Zelenskyy won power in 2019 with a promise to stamp out the rampant corruption that has plagued Ukraine for decades, and his wartime leadership has been tainted recently by tension over how serious his efforts are to do so.

Yermak’s departure highlights the standoff between Zelenskyy’s closest allies and the country’s anti-graft agencies, which were set up at the insistence of Kyiv’s Western backers. It also comes as Zelenskyy tries to navigate U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to end the war with a peace plan that demands painful concessions by Ukraine.

Meanwhile, there’s growing fatigue among the country’s donors and the risk of shortages of weapons and funding that are crucial for the resistance to Russia. All this is amplified by setbacks on the frontline.

Embezzlement Probe

The ouster of Yermak is the latest drama since the president unsuccessfully sought to gain control over the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, or NABU, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, known as SAPO, in July. The attempt drew condemnation from international allies and triggered Ukraine’s largest street protests since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The agencies responded with a probe targeting Zelenskyy’s allies. Investigators alleged they were at the helm of an embezzlement scheme aimed at siphoning off cash through kickbacks from a state-run energy company that is crucial to Ukraine’s wartime resilience.

The drive to root out corruption has led to the dismissal of two ministers and implicated former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov as well as Zelenskyy’s longtime associate Timur Mindich, a co-owner of the entertainment company that catapulted the Ukrainian leader to stardom as a comedian before his presidential bid.

Mindich left the country before charges against him were announced. Chernyshov remains in Ukraine and denies any wrongdoing.

Under Pressure

Pressure has been increasing on Zelenskyy to take swifter action against corruption both from his Western financial backers and domestically.

He faced a wave of public outrage — including from lawmakers in his ruling party — following the scandals and his failed attempt to weaken anti-corruption agencies. Yermak wasn’t publicly accused of involvement in any wrongdoing. But his position fueled the impression among Ukrainians that he was involved in the decision-making.

Often seen accompanying Zelenskyy on high-profile overseas trips, Yermak amassed outsized influence in the administration, Bloomberg reported in 2024, citing people close to the president’s office. Zelenskyy pushed back against the criticism at the time, describing Yermak as a “powerful manager.”