Zelensky’s former chief of staff announces he will ‘go to the front’ hours after resignation

Andriy Yermak, the former head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, told the New York Post on Friday that he would be going to fight on the frontlines just hours after resigning his post amid his implication in a major corruption scandal that has engulfed the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in recent weeks.

In an emotional text message sent to a New York Post reporter, Yermak said he was “going to the front” and apologised in advance if he was no longer able to answer calls, though he did not say whether he would be joining the Armed Forces of Ukraine or where he would be serving.

Stressing that he was “an honest and decent person”, Yermak said he did not want to “create any problems for Zelensky” and would therefore be enlisting to fight on the frontline, adding that though he had remained in Kyiv since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, he didn’t feel that his dignity had “been protected” by doing so.

“I’m disgusted by the filth directed at me, and even more disgusted by the lack of support from those who know the truth,” Yermak continued. “Maybe we’ll see each other again. Glory to Ukraine.” 

Zelensky announced that Yermak had submitted his resignation on Friday afternoon just hours after both his chief of staff’s home and office were searched by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). 

Though no formal charges have so far been filed against Yermak, the search of his home and office came amid an ongoing investigation into a major corruption scheme involving Zelensky’s close associate and former business partner, Timur Mindich, and several high-ranking Ukrainian officials, who allegedly profited from a kickback scheme at Ukrainian nuclear energy provider Energoatom.

Ukrainian Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk both stepped down from their posts earlier this month in relation to the same corruption probe, while former deputy prime minister Oleksiy Chernyshov was arrested and has been remanded in custody until January.