Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has resigned after anti-corruption investigators raided his Kyiv residence, a dramatic development that threatens to unsettle Ukraine’s political leadership at a moment of intense diplomatic pressure and battlefield uncertainty.
Yermak, one of the most influential figures in Zelensky’s inner circle since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, has not been accused of wrongdoing. But the raid, carried out by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, escalated a widening scandal tied to alleged embezzlement in the country’s energy sector.
In recent weeks, prosecutors have detained several officials and linked prominent figures to what they describe as a $100 million kickback scheme involving state-owned enterprises.
The fallout has damaged public trust and weakened Zelensky at a moment when Ukraine is locked in sensitive negotiations with Washington over a U.S.-led peace proposal.
Speaking outside the presidential office in an unusually somber address, Zelensky urged Ukrainians to avoid political infighting, warning, “We risk losing everything: ourselves, Ukraine, our future.”
Until now, Yermak had been leading Ukraine’s talks with the United States as President Donald Trump pursued an accelerated effort to negotiate an end to the nearly four-year war.
His departure comes just days before senior U.S. officials arrive in Kyiv and as Trump’s envoy prepares to travel to Moscow for discussions on the revised peace framework.
The scandal has sharpened international concerns over Ukraine’s anti-corruption record, especially as the country seeks membership in the European Union.
A recent EU report questioned Kyiv’s commitment to reforms, and Russian officials involved in the Trump peace discussions have pointed to the investigations as evidence of systemic misconduct—claims widely viewed in Ukraine as an attempt to exploit domestic turmoil.
Yermak, 54, acknowledged he was under “enormous” pressure to step aside but said he welcomed an independent investigation. Before the raid, he had reiterated Kyiv’s refusal to make territorial concessions to Moscow, saying “no-one should count on us giving up territory” while Zelensky remains president.
The timing of the resignation is particularly sensitive. Russian President Vladimir Putin has renewed maximalist demands, insisting the war will end only when Ukraine withdraws from the entirety of the eastern Donbas region, including cities still under Ukrainian control.
Putin said Thursday that if Kyiv did not comply, Russia would “achieve this by force of arms.”
Ukraine’s political crisis has grown in parallel with the corruption probe. Zelensky has dismissed the energy and justice ministers, while a number of former associates—including Timur Mindich, a businessman linked to Zelensky’s early media career—have left the country as investigations advance.
Public sentiment has shifted sharply: polling shows roughly 70 percent of Ukrainians favored Yermak’s removal.
Zelensky and Yermak became close more than a decade ago, after meeting in the television industry. Their partnership became a central pillar of the Ukrainian government’s wartime leadership.
On the first night of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, they appeared together outside the presidential office in a video that became emblematic of Ukrainian resistance.
Zelensky said he will begin consultations Saturday to appoint a new chief of staff. “Russia wants Ukraine to make mistakes,” he said. “There won’t be any mistakes from our side.”
