Ukraine’s top peace negotiator resigns after anti-corruption raid on home
Global News
Andrii Yermak, the powerful chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, resigned hours after his residence was searched by anti-corruption investigators.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Friday the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, whose residence was searched earlier in the day by anti-corruption investigators.
Yermak has been Ukraine’s lead negotiator in peace talks with Russia and the United States. He has also been a trusted confidante of Zelenskyy’s for years.
The unprecedented searches at the heart of Ukraine’s government come at a time when Kyiv is under intense U.S. pressure to sign a peace deal nearly four years after Russia invaded.
Two national agencies fighting entrenched corruption in Ukraine said their searches targeted Yermak. Oleksii Tkachuk, a spokesperson for Yermak, said the anti-graft agencies had not served Yermak a notice of suspicion, meaning he was not a suspect in an investigation. Tkachuk added that Yermak had not been told what the searches related to.
Yermak, a powerful figure in Ukraine and a key participant in talks with the United States, confirmed they searched his apartment inside the presidential compound in downtown Kyiv, where checkpoints limit public access. Media reports said Yermak’s office was also searched, but investigators declined to comment on that.
It was not clear where Zelenskyy or Yermak were at the time of the morning raid.
“The investigators are facing no obstacles,” Yermak wrote on the messaging app Telegram. He added that he was cooperating fully with them and his lawyers were present.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are Ukrainian anti-corruption watchdogs. They are currently leading a major investigation into a $100 million energy sector corruption scandal involving top Ukrainian officials which has dominated domestic headlines in recent weeks.
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