Particle.news
Download on the App Store
176 ARTICLES
·
last wk.

Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Yermak Resigns After Anti-Corruption Raids as Kyiv Recasts Negotiating Team

The resignation, triggered by searches in a $100 million energy probe, forces Ukraine to steady U.S.-linked peace diplomacy.

Image
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) and Head of the Office of the Presidency of Ukraine Andriy Yermak (L) during their meeting at the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid on November 18, 2025. Ukraine and the US are launching talks in Switzerland on ways to end the war, a Ukrainian negotiator said on November 22, 2025, after Washington sent Kyiv a plan which accepts some of Moscow's demands. Zelensky appointed his top aide, Andriy Yermak, to lead the team, according to a presidential decree. (Photo by Oscar DEL POZO / AFP via Getty Images)
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak (left) attends a meeting alongside Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) in Warsaw, Poland on January 15.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak talks to the press at the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

Overview

  • Anti-graft agencies NABU and SAPO conducted authorized searches at Andriy Yermak’s home and office on Friday; he said investigators had full access and that he is cooperating, and no charges have been announced.
  • President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree confirming Yermak’s dismissal and said he is rebooting the presidential office, with consultations on a replacement scheduled for Saturday.
  • Kyiv reassigned negotiation duties, naming armed forces chief Andrii Hnatov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and National Security and Defense Council secretary Rustem Umerov to lead upcoming talks with the United States.
  • The wider Operation Midas investigation alleges roughly $100 million in kickbacks tied to state energy firm Energoatom, which has already led to the justice and energy ministers’ resignations and sanctions on former Zelensky business partner Timur Mindich, who fled the country.
  • Yermak’s exit complicates peace diplomacy linked to the United States; a planned Miami meeting was canceled, and envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Moscow next week as allies watch Ukraine’s anti-corruption response closely.