Western publications are commenting on another corruption scandal that has shaken Ukraine. This time, however, it concerns a high-ranking politician considered to be the right-hand man of Volodymyr Zelensky.
The home and office of the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Ermak, were searched by Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities. The German publication Focus.de commented that this is an unprecedented corruption scandal.
Ermak is not only considered Zelensky's right-hand man, but is also one of the most influential men in the country and has been repeatedly described as an influential mediator and gray cardinal. He is also the central figure in the ongoing negotiations with the Americans.
Politico writes that Ukrainian anti-corruption units have searched the home of "Zelensky's closest ally". Earlier this month, Ukrainian lawmakers and observers demanded that Zelensky fire Yermak amid a $100 million corruption scandal in the energy sector, the publication recalls. Yermak is the second most powerful person in Kiev after the president.
Two weeks ago, anti-corruption agencies broke up an alleged criminal organization consisting of current and former energy officials, a prominent businessman, government ministers and a former deputy prime minister.
The investigation has become the most damaging domestic scandal of Zelensky’s presidency, and comes against a backdrop of relentless Russian bombing and U.S. pressure on Kiev to agree to a potentially unfavourable peace deal with the Kremlin.
Ukraine has been rocked by a bribery scandal that has reached the highest echelons of government. Yermak is not only considered Zelensky’s right-hand man: he is one of the most powerful people in Ukraine and is often called the “puppet master” and “gray cardinal“.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has invited Umerov to testify in the investigation against Timur Mindych, the alleged leader of the $100 million embezzlement scheme involving the Ukrainian national nuclear power company “Energoatom“, the media reported, citing Umerov's press service.
Ukrainian media reported that after today's searches, no charges have been filed against Yermak yet, but the search continues.
On Wednesday, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, a key figure in peace talks with Moscow and Washington, was questioned as a witness by anti-corruption authorities investigating the biggest corruption scandal since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The searches, which are likely to The attacks, which have heightened tensions between Zelensky and his political opponents, come at a time when Kiev is under intense pressure to accept a US-backed peace proposal with Russia, Reuters reported. Ermak wrote on Telegram that investigators were searching his home and that he was cooperating fully. "The investigators are not encountering any obstacles. For my part, I am cooperating fully," he said.