Zelenskyy faces pressure to fire top aide Yermak amid corruption scandal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is under fierce pressure to fire his powerful top aide Andriy Yermak amid a corruption scandal that risks spiraling into the country’s biggest domestic political crisis since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Yermak runs the presidential office and is a sharp-elbowed political operator who has been crucial in steering Zelenskyy’s rule since he took power in 2019. Some see him as almost a co-president.

The immediate flashpoint rocking Ukrainian politics — and fueling the attack against Yermak — is a corruption scandal in the country’s shattered energy sector.

“The reason is the tapes from NABU. Everyone understands the tapes are leading to him [Yermak], and that he was behind the July crisis [regarding NABU’s independence]. If this becomes publicly known, it will undermine all [members of the] Servants [party]”