Andriy Yermak: Zelensky's chief of staff 'resigns' amid corruption scandal

Yermak's fall from grace is certainly a bitter blow for the Ukrainian president, who has already lost two ministers and been forced to impose sanctions on close associates after anti-corruption bodies revealed that millions had been embezzled from the state-run nuclear energy company Energoatom. Investigators had secretly recorded conversations between senior officials, uncovering a scheme to skim £100mn from Energoatom.

Before his resignation, Yermak reaffirmed Kyiv's long-held position that it will not cede land to Russia in any future peace deal. "As long as Zelensky is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory," he told The Atlantic magazine.

The implications of Yermak's removal were felt in Washington, where Trump conceded the corruption scandal engulfing Ukraine's government was "not helpful" to ongoing peace talks. "Ukraine's got some difficult little problems", said Trump, referring to Yermak's resignation. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the scandal raised questions about whether Zelensky could still participate in future peace negotiations.

Having served as head of Zelensky's presidential office for well over five years—long before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022— Yermak's resignation is certainly a bitter blow for the Ukrainian leader. 

Early life and career

Born in November 1971 in Kyiv, when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union, his father, Borys, met his mother, Maria, on a school trip. After studying at Kyiv's Taras Shevchenko National University's Institute of International Relations, he took a master's degree in international private law. After establishing his own law practice, he branched out into film production.

Zelensky first befriended Yermak in 2011, when the latter was working as both an entertainment lawyer and a film producer, and both men worked for the same television station.

He later appointed Yermak as head of Ukraine's presidential office in 2020, where the lawyer's communication and negotiation skills quickly made him a leading behind-the-scenes figure within the administration.

Yermak promptly assumed a key role in the administration of the war-battered country in 2022 and helped to shape an international alliance in support of Ukraine.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine only deepened the pair's relationship. In the early weeks of the war, when Kyiv was almost encircled, they slept just feet apart in the presidential bunker, working side by side during the day. Yermak reportedly became Zelensky's most trusted ally and only real confidant.

Wildly unpopular

For an unelected official, Yermak quickly amassed enormous power, consolidating his influence by handling both domestic and foreign affairs. His rapid rise to power made him an unpopular figure in Ukraine, where he was accused of centralising power around the presidency and undermining the country's democratic institutions. He was responsible for appointing the prime minister and ministers, heads of state agencies, and asserting control over areas of law enforcement. This led opponents to claim that he was sidelining parliament to concentrate power in the executive branch.

By 2024, Yermak's all-encompassing influence in overseeing all aspects of the Ukrainian government led Time magazine to include him on its annual list of the world's 100 most influential people. Zelensky's name was not included in the list.

The roots of Yermak's downfall lie in last summer's anti-corruption protests, which took place in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in protest at Zelensky's ill-judged attempt to pass a law neutering Ukraine's two main anti-corruption agencies—the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).

The move drew condemnation from Western allies and sparked anti-government protests throughout the country. "Sack Yermak! Sack Yermak!" shouted demonstrators in Kyiv.

The protests, together with the widespread global condemnation of his actions, forced Zelensky to reverse course and restore the agencies' independence.

Fall from grace

Public concerns about rampant corruption in Ukraine appeared to be confirmed in early November when NABU announced that a high-powered clique of Ukrainian officials with close ties to Zelensky had embezzled $100mn from the country's energy sector.

Apart from taking lucrative kickbacks from government energy contracts, the clique was accused of undermining the defensive fortifications of the national electrical grid, thereby enabling Russia to plunge the country into prolonged blackouts by attacking Ukraine's national infrastructure.

Another factor contributing to Yermak's demise was the possibility that allegations of his involvement in Ukraine's corruption scandal could undermine Kyiv's efforts to strike a deal with the Trump administration to end the war.

Many in Ukraine believed that Trump's willingness to make major concessions to Russia, which would result in Ukraine surrendering territory to Moscow, stemmed from the Trump administration's view that Kyiv was not in a strong position to make demands. As a key member of Zelensky's negotiating team, there was a feeling that Yermak was becoming more of a liability than an asset in Kyiv's attempts to secure an acceptable deal to end the conflict.

The other consideration Zelensky had to take on board was that any deal agreed by Yermak would have been difficult to sell to the Ukrainian people, whose trust in his ability to secure an agreement that represented their interests had been diminished by the corruption scandal.

In such circumstances, while Yermak's removal from high office is certainly a major setback for Zelensky, in the long term, it could help the Ukrainian leader to secure the backing of his people for any future peace deal with Russia.