Zelensky removes Andriy Yermak from additional government posts

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently signed two decrees under which his longtime associate, Yermak, was removed from Ukraine’s National Security Council and from the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

According to Russia Today, before losing his posts in Zelensky’s administration, Yermak was a key figure in Ukraine’s political structure and was often described as the “gray eminence” or even the “true ruler of Ukraine.”

According to Ukrainian media reports, he still holds several other senior positions, including membership in the National Anti-Corruption Policy Council, the National Investment Council, and the Council for the Support of Entrepreneurship, as well as several roles in government advisory groups.

Yermak was dismissed from Zelensky’s government just hours after Western-backed Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies—the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO)—raided his properties.

These inspections were carried out as part of an ongoing investigation into a large-scale corruption scheme that is said to be linked to Zelensky’s close associates.

The corruption scandal in Ukraine began in mid-November, when the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office announced an investigation into an alleged $100 million embezzlement scheme.

This criminal network, reportedly led by Tymur Mindich, a former business associate of Zelensky, is accused of siphoning off the funds through bribes from Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company, Energoatom, which is heavily dependent on Western aid.

Mindich fled Ukraine just hours before anti-corruption agents raided his properties.