Andriy Yermak, Zelinsky’s chief of staff, steps down following an anti-corruption investigation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has resigned following an anti-corruption raid on his home.

Yermak, 54, has been a close adviser to Zelinsky in Russia’s all-out war, but has faced increasing pressure over the growing scandal – although he has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Zelinsky recently appointed him to lead key negotiations, with US President Donald Trump leading a new campaign to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a candid address to the nation outside his presidential office, Zelinsky called for unity, warning: “We risk losing everything: ourselves, Ukraine, our future.”

The corruption scandal has rocked Ukraine for weeks, weakening Zelinsky’s own position and jeopardizing the country’s negotiating position with the United States at a critical time.

Ukraine, backed by its European allies, has sought to change the terms of a US-led draft peace plan that originally leaned heavily toward Russia.

Two of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies raided York’s apartment in Kiev’s government quarters early Friday, and the chief of staff said on social media that he had “full cooperation from my side”.

“I am grateful to Andrey for always presenting Ukraine’s position as needed on the path to negotiations: it was always a patriotic position,” the Ukrainian president said during his video address in Kyiv.

Zalinsky said he would begin consultations on Saturday on who would replace Yermak as his top adviser: “When all the attention is on diplomacy and defense at war, internal strength is needed.”

“Russia wants Ukraine to make mistakes – there will be no mistakes on our part. Our work is on, our fight is on. We have no right … to retreat, to quarrel. [among ourselves]”

Yermak’s departure from Ukraine’s top circle will come as a major blow to Zelensky, with US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll due to arrive in Kiev later this week as part of Trump’s draft peace plan.

US officials are heading to Moscow next week and Russia’s Vladimir Putin said on Friday he supported Hungary’s offer to host the Trump-Putin summit in Budapest.

Putin has continued to promote more and more of Russia’s demands for an end to the war. He claimed on Thursday that it was the initiative of the Russian forces On the battlefield and fighting will end only when Ukrainian troops withdraw from the entire eastern Donbass region, including several strategically important cities under Ukrainian control.

“If they don’t give up, we will get it by force of arms,” ​​Putin said.

Hours before his flat was raided, Yermak continued to explain his government’s position as the U.S. comes under pressure to make territorial concessions to Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“As long as Zelensky is president, nobody should count on us to give up the territory. He won’t sign the territory,” Yermak told the Atlantic website.

Yermak admitted during his interview that he was under “a lot” of pressure to take the stand, adding that “the case is quite high-profile, and requires an objective and independent investigation without political influence”.

Investigators have linked several high-profile figures in the energy sector to the alleged €100m (£75m) embezzlement scandal.

Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau Nabo and the Office of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor (SAP) said they had uncovered a vast scheme to take kickbacks and influence state-owned companies, including state-run nuclear power firm Ener Hatom.

Russian officials involved in Trump’s draft peace plan have spoken out over allegations of corruption, alarming EU allies. Ukraine is a candidate to join the EU and a report earlier this month highlighted doubts over its “commitment to the anti-corruption agenda”.

Zelinski has already fired two ministers and several suspects in the scandal have been detained. One of the president’s former business associates, Timur Mendich, has fled the country.

Mendych was co-owner of the TV studio Curital 95, where Zielinski’s acting career began before he was elected president.

Andrey Yermak’s popularity has nose-dived in recent weeks and MPs from all his own parties are calling for his removal, initially seen as his lack of power for an unelected official, but more recently, a corruption scandal.

A recent poll suggested that 70% of the public wanted him to resign.

Zelinsky and his now-farmer chief of staff became friends about 14 years ago, while the future president was a senior media executive and Yermak worked for him as a lawyer. Yermak was named chief of staff in 2019, a year after Zelinsky was elected president.

On the first night of Russia’s invasion, he and colleagues appeared outside the presidential office on Banova Street in Kiev, delivering a defiant video message, vowing to stay and fight.

“We are all here,” Zelinsky told Ukrainians. “Our soldiers are here, our citizens are here and we’re all here. We’re defending our freedom, and that’s how it will continue.”