Zelensky’s chief of staff has home and office raided by Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have confirmed that its agents searched both the office and home of the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, on Friday morning. 

“National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and SAPO are carrying out investigative actions (searches) targeting the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine,” a post on SAPO’s Telegram channel read. “The investigative measures are duly authorised and being conducted within the framework of the ongoing investigation. Further details will follow.” 

Yermak, who confirmed on his Telegram channel that “procedural actions” were being carried out by both agencies at his home, said that he had fully cooperated with the investigators. “They have been given full access to the apartment, and my lawyers are on site, consulting with law enforcement officials. For my part, I am giving my full cooperation.”

NABU is preparing to press criminal charges against Yermak, according to Verkhovna Rada Deputy Oleksiy Goncharenko, and though the nature of the charges has not been specified, the Financial Times Kyiv correspondent Christopher Miller said on X that, according to his sources, the searches at Yermak's home were linked to the recent corruption scandal at Ukrainian nuclear energy provider Energoatom.

Earlier this month, the existence of a massive kickback scheme at Energoatom was revealed by NABU, in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s close friend and business partner, Timur Mindich, was implicated, as well as multiple other businessmen and officials, including Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk, both of whom were forced to resign.