Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Yermak resigns after Ukraine anti-corruption investigators raid

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak has resigned after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) conducted searches on Friday at premises linked to him as part of a major corruption investigation involving the state nuclear power company.

"In order to have internal strength, there should be no reason to be distracted by anything other than defending Ukraine. I want no one to have any questions about Ukraine," Zelenskyy said in a statement confirming Yermak's resignation.

Therefore, today we are making the following internal decisions. First, the Office of the President of Ukraine will be reorganised. The head of the office, Andriy Yermak, has submitted his resignation."

"I am grateful to Andriy for always representing Ukraine's position in the negotiation track exactly as it should be," Zelenskyy concluded.

NABU said in a statement on Telegram on Friday morning that the searches wee part of an investigation but did not specify whether Yermak was a suspect.

Zelenskyy's chief of staff stated he was fully cooperating with the investigators.

"Today, NABU and SAPO are indeed conducting procedural actions at my home. The investigators are not encountering any obstacles," Yermak said in a post on Telegram earlier on Friday.

"They have been given full access to the apartment, and my lawyers are on site, interacting with law enforcement officials. For my part, I am providing full cooperation."

NABU and SAPO (Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office) have been investigating the corruption case involving state nuclear monopoly Energoatom for a few weeks now.

Eight suspects have been charged in what is amounting to the most extensive corruption investigation since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022.

What is the probe about?

An extensive anti-corruption investigation into allegations of graft involving the state nuclear power company Energoatom has rocked Ukraine.

NABU and SAPO said the investigation, which was 15 months in the making and involved 1,000 hours of audio recordings, uncovered the participation of several members of the Ukrainian government.

The anti-corruption bureau reported that the group was collecting bribes from Energoatom contractors, amounting to 10-15% of each contract's value.

Around $100 million in funds was laundered, according to the NABU.

"In fact, the management of a strategic enterprise with an annual revenue of over €4 billion was carried out not by officials, but by outsiders who had no formal authority," the NABU said in a statement.

The allegation is that they received payments from contractors building fortifications against Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, while millions of Ukrainians across the country are suffering from power outages and blackouts after Russian attacks.

The investigation by the anti-corruption bureau alleges that the ringleader and mastermind of the corruption scheme is businessman Timur Mindich, a former business partner of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Mindich was one of Zelenskyy's closest associates before he became president in 2019.

Zelenskyy introduced sanctions against Mindich amid the investigation.

In response to the investigation, Ukraine launched a massive anti-corruption audit of all state-owned companies.

Ukraine's Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk and Herman Halushchenko, former energy minister from 2021 to July 2025 and until recently the justice minister, resigned amid the probe.

Brussels says Ukraine anti-graft bodies 'doing their work'

The European Commission said the current investigation and the Friday morning searches demonstrate that Ukraine's anti-corruption watchdogs are functioning.

“We understand that there are ongoing investigations and we have a lot of respect for those investigations”, the European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said, commenting on the raids at the premises linked to Yermak.

“It shows that the anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine are doing their work,” Pinho stated.

The Commission spokesperson added that the investigation shows “precisely” that the anti-graft agencies are “actually in place and they're allowed to function."

“Fight against corruption is a key element for a country to join the European Union,” Pinho emphasised.

Ukraine received EU candidate status in June 2022, four months after Russia's full-scale invasion, and formally opened accession negotiations in June 2024.

The European Commission has emphasised that Ukraine's progress on rooting out corruption will be closely followed throughout the accession process, with anti-graft reforms serving as a key measuring stick for advancing negotiations.

In the latest annual enlargement report released on 4 November, Brussels praised Ukraine's "remarkable commitment" and progress towards EU accession but urged the country to reverse recent "negative trends,” especially in the area of corruption.

The Commission said that it "positively assessed" the roadmaps and action plan Kyiv adopted earlier this year on the rule of law, public administration reform and on the functioning of democratic institutions, as well as its negotiating position for the fundamental clusters.

It stated that Brussels stands ready to support Ukraine's ambition to conclude negotiations before the end of 2028, but that doing so would require Kyiv to accelerate reforms.