Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that his chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, resigned after anti-corruption investigators searched Yermak’s apartment in the presidential compound in Kyiv earlier the same day.
Yermak confirmed the search and said on Telegram that he is cooperating fully and that his lawyers were present. His spokesperson, Oleksii Tkachuk, said Yermak has not been served a notice of suspicion and is not formally a suspect, and that he did not know the exact reason for the searches. The operation was carried out by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. NABU declined to comment publicly, citing legal limits.
The agencies are leading a high-profile probe into an alleged roughly $100 million corruption scheme in the energy sector that has dominated domestic headlines. Authorities have not confirmed whether the searches at the presidential compound were directly tied to that investigation.
European Commission officials said they were monitoring the developments closely and reiterated that credible anti-corruption measures are central to Ukraine’s EU accession prospects.
Investigators have accused businessman Tymur Mindich, a former associate of Zelenskyy, of orchestrating the scheme; Mindich has left Ukraine and any case against him may proceed in absentia. Two government ministers already resigned over the scandal. Two of Yermak’s former deputies, Oleh Tatarov and Rostyslav Shurma, left the administration in 2024 amid related probes. A third deputy, Andrii Smyrnov, has been investigated over alleged bribes but remains in Yermak’s office.
The affair has intensified political pressure on Zelenskyy as he seeks continued Western support and funding for the war with Russia and pursues possible negotiations. Earlier revelations in the probe triggered an internal revolt among some lawmakers in Zelenskyy’s faction demanding accountability; Zelenskyy had resisted calls to remove Yermak and urged unity.
Yermak, a longtime confidant who joined Zelenskyy’s team early in his presidency and became chief of staff in February 2020, has been a key figure in foreign visits and senior appointments since Russia’s full-scale invasion. While he has not been publicly accused of wrongdoing, the search and his resignation underscore mounting demands for effective anti-corruption enforcement in Ukraine.