Ukraine anti-corruption agencies target Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff in probe

Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies moved against Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff, serving an official notice of suspicion in a sprawling corruption case that has become a test of the country’s wartime credibility. The agencies did not name the suspect, but he was widely identified as Andriy Yermak.

Yermak’s fall marks a sharp reversal for a man long seen as one of the most powerful figures in Kyiv and Zelenskyy’s top foreign-policy negotiator. He played a central role in talks with U.S. officials on Ukraine’s peace efforts before resigning in November 2025, after anti-corruption investigators searched his home and office. Zelenskyy said at the time that he wanted to avoid rumors and speculation, and Yermak said he was cooperating with investigators.

The latest action is tied to the broader Midas operation, a major investigation centered on Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear power company. The case has already ensnared several figures in Zelenskyy’s circle, including businessman Timur Mindich, former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov and former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko. Nine suspects had already been charged in the Energoatom case before the new notice of suspicion was issued.

The alleged scheme has been described as a $100 million corruption operation, with one account placing the laundering at UAH 460 million, or about €8.9 million, through elite construction near Kyiv. That scale has made the probe one of the most politically damaging corruption scandals of Zelenskyy’s presidency, coming at a moment when Ukraine is fighting for its survival and still depends on Western military, financial and diplomatic support.

The case also reopens a politically fraught question about whether Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions can act independently when the scrutiny reaches the president’s inner circle. Last summer, Zelenskyy signed legislation that stripped the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of independence, then reversed course after nationwide protests. That backlash underscored how quickly attempts to weaken watchdogs can turn into a domestic crisis.

For Zelenskyy, the scandal is now about more than one former aide. It signals whether rule of law can still function under the pressures of war, and whether allies will see Ukraine’s anti-graft system as resilient enough to police power at the top. The Kremlin has already portrayed the affair as evidence of political crisis in Kyiv, making the outcome even more consequential for Ukraine’s wartime standing.