A top aide to Zelensky resigns amid corruption scandal in Ukraine

A political earthquake has occurred in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, the country's second most powerful figure, was forced to resign amid a corruption scandal. This comes at a time when Ukraine is engaged in negotiations with the Trump administration regarding a possible end to the Russian war in Ukraine. Jack Hewson joins John Young with the latest news from Kyiv.

Jun Yang:

We begin tonight with a political earthquake in Ukraine. Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the country's second most powerful figure, was forced to resign amid a corruption scandal. This comes at a time when Ukraine is engaged in negotiations with the Trump administration regarding a possible end to the Russian war on Ukraine.

Special correspondent Jack Hewson is in Kyiv.

Jack, who is this Chief of Staff and why is this important?

Jack Hewson:

Well, John, Andriy Yermak, as I mentioned, was President Zelensky's chief of staff and the second most powerful man in the country.

Zelensky came to power on the back of landslide elections in 2019 and, with that power, has centered power around the office of the president. And Yermak was a very big part of that. Officially, Ukraine is a hybrid presidential system.

But under Zelensky and Yermak, the government took a form dominated by top-down executives. Under wartime powers, which include martial law and the freezing of any presidential or parliamentary elections, it has become more centralized.

As one anti-corruption activist told me earlier this evening, Zelensky is the face of the government, while Yermak is the mastermind. So Yermak leaving is huge.

Jun Yang:

corruption. There is an embezzlement scandal involving several high-ranking officials in Zelensky's circle. Tell us about it.

Jack Hewson:

Well, the scandal relates to an anti-corruption investigation called “Operation Midas,” which has led to a series of high-profile raids and accusations over the past month.

There has been a laundry list of high-ranking Cabinet officials, including the former deputy prime minister, who have been charged or named. The main character in all of this is a man named Timur Mendić. He is a former business partner of Zelensky, with whom he founded a media company before becoming president.

Mendic and his broader group of appointees and ministers are accused of embezzling $100 million worth of public funds that were supposed to be spent on the energy sector. Instead, it was misappropriated by inflating infrastructure purchase contracts and embezzling funds.

So, right now, with Ukraine being bombarded daily by Russian drones and missiles, blowing up power plants and substations, and causing blackouts, as you can imagine, Ukrainians are very angry that in this time of suffering, these ministers were stealing public money that should have been spent on fixing the power grid, rather than enriching themselves.

Authorities have not yet confirmed whether the raid was related to Operation Midas, but after his raid, Yermak went ahead and resigned nonetheless.

Jun Yang:

How might all this affect or how might all this affect efforts to end the war?

Jack Hewson:

Well, this fundamentally weakens the Ukrainian negotiating position. It allows the Kremlin to portray Ukraine as a corrupt and untrustworthy partner for its allies.

It allows Putin to equate Ukraine with more corrupt or dictatorial regimes, and throws the peace negotiations into temporary chaos, as Yermak was also Zelensky's chief negotiator.

But it also harms Ukraine's image before its allies. One of the main criteria for Ukrainian aid was to eliminate corruption in this country, and this scandal proves very clearly that this is not what happened.

And at this point – and this is the point that President Zelensky himself made tonight in his evening speech announcing the departure of his most valuable aide.

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine (through translator):

In order to maintain our internal strength, there should be no reasons for us to divert our attention to anything other than defending Ukraine. I don't want anyone to doubt Ukraine, and that's why we made today's decisions.

Jack Hewson:

This weak position in which Ukraine now finds itself is seen by many as a complicating factor as to why the Trump administration is able to push so hard for a peace agreement on terms that many see as very favorable to Russia – John.

Jun Yang:

Special Correspondent Jack Hewson in Kyiv, thank you very much.

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