Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Resigns After Anti-Corruption Raid Amid Rising Pressure on Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has submitted his resignation following an anti-corruption raid on his home, marking a major shake-up within Ukraine’s leadership as the country balances wartime diplomacy and domestic political pressures. Yermak, 54, has been one of Zelensky’s closest advisers throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion and recently held a central role in negotiations linked to a new peace push led by US President Donald Trump.

Although Yermak has not been accused of wrongdoing, the corruption case unfolding around Ukraine’s energy sector has placed him under growing scrutiny. For weeks, the scandal has weakened Zelensky’s standing at home and abroad, and threatened to complicate Ukraine’s efforts to reshape a US-drafted peace proposal that Kyiv believes is too favourable to Russia. In this environment, Yermak’s position became increasingly difficult to defend.

Speaking to the nation outside his presidential office, Zelensky called for unity and resilience, warning that Ukraine’s future is at stake. “We risk losing everything: ourselves, Ukraine, our future,” he said in a sombre address. He praised Yermak for representing Ukraine’s negotiating position firmly and patriotically, acknowledging his crucial contributions during some of the toughest diplomatic moments of the war.

Hours earlier, Ukraine’s two leading anti-corruption agencies searched Yermak’s government district apartment in Kyiv. Yermak confirmed the raid on social media and said he was cooperating fully. The raid formed part of a sweeping investigation into alleged kickbacks worth more than 100 million dollars within the energy sector, a scandal that has already prompted multiple dismissals and created fresh political divides inside Kyiv’s leadership.

Zelensky said discussions would begin on Saturday to determine Yermak’s replacement. With Ukraine’s diplomatic and military efforts under extraordinary pressure, Zelensky stressed that “inner strength is required” from the country’s leaders. Yermak’s departure leaves Zelensky without his most trusted adviser at a time when the stakes could not be higher.

The timing is particularly sensitive. US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is expected in Kyiv later this week as part of Trump’s draft peace initiative. Meanwhile, US officials are preparing to travel to Moscow next week, where they will meet Russian representatives as part of the evolving negotiation framework. Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly supported a Hungarian proposal to host a Trump-Putin summit in Budapest, further escalating geopolitical tensions.

Putin continued to assert Russia’s maximalist conditions for ending the war, declaring that Ukrainian forces must withdraw from the entire Donbas region, including cities Kyiv still controls. He warned that Russia would seize those areas “by force of arms” if Ukraine refused to yield.

Despite the turmoil, Yermak defended Ukraine’s firm territorial stance in an interview with The Atlantic published just before the raid. He insisted that Zelensky would never sign away Ukrainian land, and acknowledged that he was under “enormous” pressure to resign. He said he welcomed a thorough, independent investigation.

Yermak’s exit now adds a new layer of uncertainty to Ukraine’s wartime leadership, leaving Zelensky to navigate diplomacy, domestic politics and military strategy without one of his most influential allies.