NABU Charges Zelenskyy Ex-Chief Of Staff Andriy Yermak With Corruption And Money Laundering

Ukrainian anti-corruption watchdogs charged Andriy Yermak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff, with corruption and money laundering tied to laundering UAH 460 million, according to NABU, which said the alleged scheme involved elite construction near Kyiv.

“- Published President Volodymyr Zelensky's former right-hand man Andriy Yermak appeared in a Kyiv court on Tuesday, after he was named by Ukraine's two anti-corruption agencies as a suspect in a money-laundering scheme”

BBC

POLITICO.eu reported that NABU said the charges relate to the so-called Midas operation and an €85 million corruption scandal at Ukraine’s state Energoatom energy company, while the Kyiv Independent said the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) named Yermak as a suspect in a luxury residential compound case outside Kyiv.

BBC

Both outlets tied the allegations to a network of shell companies, cash transactions, and fictitious financial documents, with the Kyiv Independent adding that prosecutors allege the group planned four private mansions of roughly 1,000 square meters each plus a shared wellness complex with a spa and swimming pool.

Zelenskyy’s role was framed differently across the reporting: POLITICO.eu said Zelenskyy fired Yermak last November to “avoid any speculations,” while the Kyiv Independent said Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and SAPO allege the scheme involved Energoatom-linked graft and that Yermak told Ukrainska Pravda, “I don't own any houses; I only have one apartment and one car, which you saw.”

Andriy Yermak appeared in a Kyiv court on Tuesday after Ukraine’s two anti-corruption agencies named him as a suspect in a money-laundering scheme, with the BBC saying his lawyer had earlier denounced the allegations as “baseless.”

The BBC reported that hours before the hearing Yermak told reporters, “I do not have any house, I only have one flat and one car,” and that Ukraine’s Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sap) asked the Kyiv court to either place him in preventive detention or give him bail of about $4m.

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In the same BBC account, the head of the National anti-corruption bureau (Nabu) stressed that Zelensky himself was not part of the pre-trial investigation, while the Kyiv Independent said Zelensky’s advisor Dmytro Lytvyn told journalists that it was “too early to assess the ongoing procedural actions.”

The BBC also placed the case in a wider political context, saying the allegations have cast a shadow over Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union and that last year Zelensky had to scrap a law that weakened the independence of the two anti-corruption agencies after protests and EU criticism.

The corruption probe unfolded as Ukraine’s war with Russia continued into its fifth year, with the AP-linked PBS report saying a three-day U.S.-brokered ceasefire decreased fighting but failed to stop it altogether and that Russia’s invasion is now in its fifth year.

“Under Fire: Allegations Rocking Zelenskiy's Inner Circle Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy faces challenges to his reputation due to corruption charges against his former chief of staff, Andriy Yermak”

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PBS also reported that Russia launched over 200 drones against Ukraine overnight, striking civilian infrastructure and killing at least one person and wounding another six, while the BBC said Moscow claimed it had shot down more than 100 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours.

Against that battlefield backdrop, the BBC said Zelensky had told earlier that Russia had “no intention of ending this war” and that Putin suggested at the weekend the war was “coming to an end,” while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that “a lot of homework is still to be done.”

The political stakes were tied directly to European integration and wartime governance, with PBS saying the investigation is deeply embarrassing for Zelenskyy as he pushes for admission to the European Union and with POLITICO.eu reporting that Zelenskyy signed a bill stripping NABU and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s office of their independence, prompting nationwide protests and forcing retraction.