KYIV — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Friday that his powerful chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, has resigned after anti-corruption investigators searched Yermak’s residence earlier in the day.
Yermak, a close confidante of Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s lead negotiator with Russia and the United States, confirmed that investigators had searched his apartment inside the presidential compound in downtown Kyiv. The compound is protected by checkpoints that limit public access. Media reports said his office was also searched; investigators declined to confirm details.
Two national anti-corruption bodies said they had carried out searches targeting Yermak. A spokesperson for Yermak, Oleksii Tkachuk, told reporters that no notice of suspicion had been served and that Yermak had not been informed what the searches related to. Yermak wrote on the messaging app Telegram that ‘the investigators are facing no obstacles,’ adding that he was cooperating fully and that his lawyers were present.
The raids come amid heightened international pressure on Kyiv to demonstrate progress on anti-corruption as talks over a potential peace deal with Russia continue nearly four years after the 2022 invasion. U.S. officials have pressed for a settlement, and European institutions have emphasized that fighting graft is critical to Ukraine’s future, including its aspirations for European Union membership.
The searches are taking place alongside a major probe led by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office into an alleged $100 million corruption scheme in the energy sector. Authorities have said investigators are focused on senior officials tied to that scandal, which has dominated domestic headlines. It was not immediately clear whether the searches of Yermak were directly connected to the energy-sector investigation; NABU spokesperson Anton Tatarnikov declined to comment, citing legal limits on discussing ongoing probes.
European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier told Ukrainian media that Brussels was following the developments closely and viewed the actions as evidence that Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies are functioning. The probe has already prompted two government ministers to resign, and investigators have identified Tymur Mindich, a former business partner of Zelenskyy, as a suspected ringleader; Mindich has left the country and could face proceedings in absentia.
The scandal has compounded political tensions in Kyiv. After investigators published details of the energy-sector probe, Zelenskyy faced an unprecedented rebellion from lawmakers in his own party. While Yermak has not been formally accused of wrongdoing, several senior party lawmakers said he should take responsibility to help restore public confidence and warned the party could fracture if he stayed. Zelenskyy initially resisted calls for Yermak to step down.
Seeking to calm the situation, Zelenskyy urged unity and asked politicians to ‘stop the political games’ as Kyiv navigates intense external pressure related to peace talks and continued Western support for the war effort.
Yermak and Zelenskyy go back more than 15 years, when Yermak worked as a lawyer and producer and Zelenskyy was a popular comedian and actor. Yermak handled foreign affairs in Zelenskyy’s first administration and was promoted to chief of staff in February 2020. He has accompanied the president on nearly every trip abroad since the full-scale invasion and had been widely seen as a central gatekeeper in the president’s inner circle, with significant influence over senior appointments.
People associated with Yermak and the presidential office have previously been the subject of investigations. Two of Yermak’s former deputies, Oleh Tatarov and Rostyslav Shurma, left government posts in 2024 after watchdog inquiries; a third deputy, Andrii Smyrnov, has faced investigations into alleged bribery and misconduct but remained employed under Yermak.
The searches and resignation mark a notable moment of domestic upheaval for Zelenskyy’s administration as it tries to balance internal reform demands with the geopolitical pressures of an ongoing war and international negotiations.