Andriy Yermak, one of President Volodymyr Zelensky's closest aides and a major figure in Ukraine's wartime diplomacy, was removed from his post Friday after anti-corruption officers raided his home.
Yermak has been the Ukrainian president's chief of staff throughout Russia's full-scale invasion. He managed foreign outreach, hosted visiting leaders in Kyiv, and accompanied the president on international missions for military and diplomatic backing.
The shake-up coincides with growing US insistence on a peace deal that many in Ukraine view as tilting in Russia's favour. Earlier this week, Yermak was in Geneva leading the Ukrainian delegation in talks with a US team headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the latest proposal from Washington.
Who Is Andriy Yermak?
- Born in Kyiv, Yermak studied international private law at Taras Shevchenko National University and opened his own law firm in 1997. Early in his career, he entered politics as a legal adviser to Party of Regions MP and former Olympic wrestler Elbrus Tedeyev.
- Alongside his legal work, Yermak built a parallel career in media. He founded Garnet Media Group, producing Ukrainian films and television projects, and later established the Garnet International Media Group in 2012. His involvement in film brought him into the Ukrainian and European film academies.
- He first met Volodymyr Zelensky in 2011, when the Ukrainian President was a general producer at TV channel Inter. Their professional relationship grew, and Yermak later joined Zelensky's presidential campaign in 2019.
- After Zelensky won the election, Yermak was appointed presidential aide for foreign policy. He handled negotiations on prisoner exchanges with Russia and oversaw Ukraine's communications with the US.
- In February 2020, Yermak was elevated to head of the Office of the President, and the following day he became a member of the National Security and Defence Council. His work centered on Ukraine's conflict with Russia, and in 2022 he also became chairman of the Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian and Social Affairs.
- Often seen wearing the same military-inspired attire as Zelensky, Yermak reportedly earned the nickname “green cardinal.” Over time, he came to be viewed as a near co-president, the most powerful unelected figure in Ukraine.
What His Exit Means For Ukraine
Andriy Yermak's resignation is a major rupture in Kyiv's wartime politics. “I didn't believe it was possible that he would ever go,” one former senior official told Politico, adding they did not want to be seen “dancing on Yermak's grave.”
His departure leaves the president without his enforcer as Ukraine enters high-stakes negotiations over US leader Donald Trump's contentious peace plan and faces renewed Russian pressure on the Donbas front. Former Deputy Prime Minister Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze warned that the moment demands a return to constitutional governance. “Parliament has to regain its agency,” she said.
Yermak hinted at a dramatic next chapter, telling The New York Post he planned to join the war to fight Russia. “I'm going to the front. I am an honest and decent person,” he said.
Opposition lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko said the resignation “shows that there's zero tolerance for corruption and the president listens to the concerns of the people,” while journalist-turned-critic Iuliia Mendel called the move “a desperate reaction to unbearable pressure,” warning Yermak could still operate as a “shadow puppeteer.”
