Anti-corruption investigators have stormed the Kyiv residence and offices of Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s longtime chief of staff.
The property raid on Yermak, one of the country’s most influential power brokers, took place early this morning.
Hours later, Yermak quit his post, according to Reuters.
The high-stakes operation was conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
It marks the latest and most explosive chapter in a sprawling $100 million (€86.5 million) kickback scandal at the heart of Ukraine’s energy sector. The scandal threatens to engulf Zelensky’s administration just as Kyiv is scrambling to revise US peace proposals and secure billions in frozen Russian assets.
In erupted. after investigators famously discovered a gold-plated toilet and other lavish fixtures in the apartment of Tymur Mindich, a one-time close associate of Zelensky.
Mindich allegedly ran a kickback scheme that extracted 10 per cent to 15 per cent from nuclear contracts while soldiers fought and civilians endured blackouts, turning the probe into a potent symbol of wartime excess.
Mindich, a pre-presidency business associate of Zelensky, is also co-owner of his Kvartal 95 production company. He reportedly fled the country for Israel before his premises were raided on November 11.
He also faces US FBI scrutiny for related money-laundering allegations.
Yermak, 54, a powerful figure often dubbed Ukraine’s “second president” for his iron grip on policy, diplomacy and personnel decisions, confirmed the raid on his property on Telegram shortly after dawn.
“Today, NABU and SAPO are indeed conducting procedural actions at my home. The investigators are not encountering any obstacles. They have been given full access to the apartment, and my lawyers are on site, interacting with law enforcement officials.
“For my part, I am providing full cooperation”, he wrote, vowing transparency amid whispers of political maneuvering.
No arrests were reported and Yermak has not been formally charged.
NABU announced the “investigative actions” in a brief Facebook post, stating that the searches were “authorised and carried out as part of an ongoing investigation” without specifying details or Yermak’s status.
Neither NABU nor SAPO has formally accused Yermak of wrongdoing but the searches, part of an expanding probe into alleged graft at State-owned atomic energy giant Energoatom, have ignited calls for his ousting from within Zelensky’s own Servant of the People party.
NABU’s potential evidence includes more than 1,000 hours of secretly recorded conversations, some of which reportedly reference Yermak, under the alias “Ali Baba”, allegedly directing efforts to obstruct the investigation and persecute anti-corruption officials, according to lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
In one of those conversation, a suspect reportedly said it was a “pity” to build structures to defend power stations from Russian attacks since the money could be stolen instead.
Eight suspects have been charged in the Energoatom case and Mindich was allegedly the ringleader, the Kyiv Independent reported.
Yermak was also connected to Kvartal 95, running a law firm that provided legal services to the entertainment production company and is a close confidant of Zelensky.
Radio Free Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on November 20: “His role has become so ubiquitous in the halls of power in Ukraine that a common joke among Ukrainians is that foreign investors and officials should come to Kyiv to meet Zelenskyy so he can introduce them Yermak.”
Yermak’s potential involvement stems from his oversight of energy ministry appointments and foreign policy, intersecting with Energoatom’s operations.
The scandal has already prompted resignations, including those of energy minister Svitlana Hrynchuk and former energy and justice minister Herman Halushchenko.
The timing amplifies the political fallout. Yermak led recent Geneva talks revising US peace proposals under President Donald Trump.
Yesterday, he publicly rejected territorial concessions, citing Ukraine’s Constitution — a stance that drew speculation of US influence on the probe.
Zelensky, in the mean time, faces mounting domestic pressure over the corruption case. The President’s Office and his press service did not respond to requests for comment to local media.
Russian state media amplified the news, framing it as evidence of Kyiv’s collapse.
COMMENT: Ukraine must show that it has the political maturity to govern itself, and not just produce a rotation of kleptocrats in rigged elections, writes @ConradMBlack. https://t.co/lmfF8n7UC2
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 19, 2025
