Andriy Yermak, Ukraine's head of the presidential office, resigned from his position on November 28, 2025. Photo / Getty Images
Andriy Yermak, Ukraine's head of the presidential office, resigned from his position on November 28, 2025. Photo / Getty Images
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff said he will go to the front line and fight against Russia, just hours after resigning from his position amid a corruption probe.
Andriy Yermak, the President’s closest confidant, sent a message to an American journalist, saying: “I am going to thefront and am prepared for any reprisals.” He apologised if he could no longer answer her calls.
Yermak resigned on Friday night after increasing political pressure came to a head when his home was raided by anti-corruption investigators in connection with a £76 million ($175.4m) embezzlement scandal in the energy sector.
He denies wrongdoing and has not been officially named as a suspect, but told the New York Post’s Caitlin Doornbos: “I’ve been desecrated and my dignity hasn’t been protected. I don’t want to create problems for Zelenskyy, I’m going to the front.”
It is a remarkable fall from grace for the aide who was expected to be sent to the US this weekend to help lead peace plan negotiations.
Yermak’s critics described him as a hatchet man who exploited his power to crush political rivals and held undue influence over Zelenskyy, who had faced mounting calls to sack his closest ally in the Government.
The 15-month investigation into Ukraine’s Energoatom implicated several allies of the Ukrainian president, including Timur Mindich, his former business partner, Svitlana Hrynchuk, the Energy Minister, and Herman Halushchenko, the Justice Minister. Hrynchuk and Halushchenko quit their roles.
Investigators had secretly recorded conversations between top officials, uncovering a scheme to skim £76m from Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator, using kickbacks of 10-15% on contracts.
It is not clear how far back in time the scheme went. Officials have argued that Zelenskyy knew nothing of it, however, his proximity to it threatens his legitimacy.
Andriy Yermak (centre) is the Ukrainian President's closest confidant. Photo / Getty Images
In the summer, as the investigation was taking place, Yermak was alleged to have been behind a botched attempt to stifle the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies, which sparked nationwide protests and international condemnation.
Announcing Yermak’s resignation on Friday evening (local time), Zelenskyy praised his friend and said he would hold consultations for the new head of the position on the next day.
Yermak, who is not married and does not have children, said: “I’m disgusted by the filth directed at me and even more disgusted by the lack of support from those who know the truth.”
Yulia Svyrydenko, the Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, the Minister of Digital Transformation, Denys Shmyhal, the Defence Minister, and Kyrylo Budanov, the head of military intelligence, are all thought to be front-runners for his old role.
The Ukrainian leader will be hoping to present the move as a fresh renewal of his wartime Government to encourage Ukrainians to rally behind the administration, amid fraught negotiations to end the war.
Zelenskyy will head to Paris on Monday to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and discuss the US peace plan.
As Ukraine geared up for talks with Washington, which will now be led by Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s state security and defence council, Russia launched a huge, nine-hour combined missile and drone attack on Kyiv, killing at least two people.
Rescuers work at Nova Poshta (Nova Post), a private Ukrainian postal and courier company, building and office premises hit by a Russian airstrike in Kyiv’s suburb on November 29, 2025 in Vyshneve, Ukraine. Photo / Getty Images
Residential buildings in several districts were ravaged by the strikes, which left parts of the city without electricity and water.
Meanwhile, two sanctioned oil tankers linked to Russia’s shadow fleet caught fire on Friday (local time) in the Black Sea near the Bosphorus Strait after “external interference”.
A senior Turkish official said they may have been hit by mines, drones or missiles. Neither Kyiv nor Moscow have commented on the claims.
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