ALBAWABA - Reuters said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accepted the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, on Friday. This happened just hours after anti-corruption investigators searched Yermak's home as part of a larger investigation into corruption.
The sudden departure is a big step up in a political crisis that is shaking Kyiv at a bad time, as Ukraine is under more and more pressure from the U.S. to agree to the terms of a proposed peace deal with Russia.
Yermak, who was in charge of Ukraine's negotiating team in talks that were influenced by a recent U.S. draft proposal that seemed to meet Moscow's demands, confirmed the search earlier in the day and said he was fully cooperating with investigators.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine both said in a joint statement that the search was legal and part of an ongoing investigation, but they did not give any more information.
This action comes after a full investigation into an alleged $100 million bribery scheme involving the state nuclear energy company began earlier this month. It is thought that the scandal involves former high-ranking officials and a former business partner of President Zelensky.
Before the raid, Yermak was not known to be a suspect, but his resignation after the raid shows that this is the most serious political fallout yet from what has become one of the most serious corruption investigations of the war.
