The revelation that anti-corruption police are searching the property of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, could have huge repercussions for the Ukrainian political scene and possibly for peace negotiations as well.
It is hard to overstate the significance of Yermak in the Ukrainian political system. He combines multiple roles for Zelenskyy: most trusted sounding board, domestic political enforcer, controller of access to the president, main point of contact for foreign politicians, and chief peace negotiator. Yermak is such a powerful chief of staff that people who know how the president’s office operates describe his relationship with Zelenskyy as symbiotic.
Those who have dealt with Yermak, both inside and outside Ukraine, describe him as a workaholic and a ruthless operator, who has moved against alternative centres of political influence in the country and has systematically worked to acquire political power.
With such influence inevitably comes enemies, and there are few in the Ukrainian elite who have a positive view of Yermak, though many admire his work ethic and political skills.
Foreign politicians have often appreciated knowing they can use Yermak as a direct line to the president, but some have found him a frustrating interlocutor, and figures in the Trump White House are known to have expressed a preference for dealing with Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s security council.
Up to now, Zelenskyy has always resisted calls to fire Yermak or even clip his wings, but if Yermak is now caught up in a corruption scandal these are likely to get louder. Politically, getting rid of his chief of staff might be Zelenskyy’s smartest move, but those who know both men say the relationship is so close it is hard to imagine Zelenskyy taking that step.
“I suppose it’s theoretically possible that Zelenskyy could function without him but in practice I can’t imagine that ever happening,” one former senior official confided a couple of months ago.
