KIEV (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s powerful chief of staff, a close ally who led Ukraine’s negotiating team in tense U.S.-backed peace talks, resigned on Friday, hours after anti-corruption agents searched his home.
Zelenskiy said Andriy Yermak had resigned and would consider his replacement on Saturday.
Yermak’s departure comes amid a major investigation into high-level corruption that has implicated senior officials, fueling widespread public outrage.
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“Russia really wants Ukraine to make mistakes,” Zelenskiy said in a video address. ‘There will be no mistakes on our part. Our work continues.’
Yermak, 54, has been close friends with Zelenskiy since before the former sitcom star embarked on his political career and helped guide his 2019 presidential campaign.
He has not been named as a suspect, but opposition lawmakers and some members of Zelenskiy’s own party have called for his resignation in Ukraine’s worst wartime political crisis.
Earlier on Friday, Yermak confirmed that his apartment was being searched and said he was cooperating fully.
In a joint statement, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Office and the Anti-Corruption Specialized Prosecutor’s Office said the searches were ‘authorized’ and linked to an unspecified investigation.
Earlier this month, the two anti-corruption agencies revealed a wide-ranging investigation into an alleged $100 million bribery scheme at the state-owned atomic energy company that involved former senior officials and a former associate of Zelenskiy.
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The US-backed peace initiative comes as Russian forces advance along several parts of the sprawling front line. Moscow says its troops are close to capturing the eastern city of Pokrovsk, which would represent its biggest achievement in almost two years.
On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin said a 28-point US peace plan, leaked last week, could serve as ‘a basis for future agreements’. He demanded that Kiev withdraw its troops from the territory in the east of the country it occupies before Moscow ceases fighting.
In an interview with The Atlantic magazine this week, Yermak stated that ‘no one should count on our ceding territory’.
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Demonstrating progress in fighting corruption is a central element of Kiev’s bid for the European Union, which Ukrainian officials consider crucial to breaking Russia’s orbit.
In a statement released before Yermak’s resignation was announced, a European Commission spokesperson said Brussels “will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
The two anti-corruption agencies intensified their campaigns during the Russian invasion, but said they were under pressure from groups with vested interests. Zelensky even briefly revoked their independence last July, but backed down after public protests and criticism from foreign partners.
