President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Friday, 28 November, that his chief of staff Andriy Yermak has resigned, hours after Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) searched Yermak’s home. Yermak said he was fully co‑operating with investigators; he has not been named a suspect. Zelenskyy said he would begin consultations on a replacement on Saturday. A presidential decree formalising the dismissal was posted on the President’s Office website, according to Euronews.
The change comes as Kyiv recalibrates its negotiation team for talks with the United States. Reuters reports that Yermak had been leading Ukraine’s response to a leaked 28‑point U.S. framework; Zelenskyy said further meetings with Washington would proceed with defence, foreign affairs and security officials. Separately, Yermak said on 25 November that U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was expected in Kyiv this week, while the Kremlin confirmed U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Moscow next week. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said he would still welcome a Trump–Putin summit in Budapest after Hungary offered to host.
NABU and SAPO said they conducted investigative actions at Yermak’s residence in Kyiv’s government quarter early on Friday. In a post on social media, Yermak wrote that investigators had full access and faced no obstacles. The agencies did not specify which case the search related to. Video of the operation circulated in Ukrainian media and was reported by The Guardian and Euronews.
The search comes amid “Operation Midas”, a widening anti‑graft probe into alleged $100m in kickbacks linked to contracts at state nuclear operator Energoatom. NABU and SAPO say the scheme extracted 10–15% from suppliers; investigators cite 15 months of work and around 1,000 hours of audio recordings. Prosecutors have named several suspects, and businessman Timur Mindich - a former associate of Zelenskyy - is alleged to have played a central role before fleeing the country.
The fallout has already reshaped the cabinet. Parliament dismissed Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk on 19 November following her resignation; Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko also left his post earlier in the probe. The government has since moved to audit state‑owned companies and review oversight at Energoatom, officials told Euronews. Both former ministers deny wrongdoing.
Anti‑corruption performance is central to Ukraine’s EU path. The European Commission’s 2025 Enlargement Report praised outputs by NABU, SAPO and the High Anti‑Corruption Court but warned of pressure on specialised bodies and rated overall progress on corruption as “limited”. It also noted that amendments passed in July briefly weakened agency independence before being reversed after public pushback. Brussels will judge Kyiv by whether there is no backsliding from here.
Politically, Yermak’s departure removes a figure widely regarded as Kyiv’s chief power broker during the war. Reuters notes growing calls from activists, opposition figures and some Servant of the People lawmakers for his removal, arguing his presence risked complicating diplomacy. In his address, Zelenskyy thanked Yermak for presenting a consistently patriotic position in talks, while signalling a reorganisation of the presidential office.
On substance, Kyiv’s position on territory is unchanged. In an interview published on Thursday, Yermak told The Atlantic that Zelenskyy “will not sign away territory” and that only demarcation of the current line of contact can be discussed. Putin has insisted any settlement requires Ukraine to give up land and warned that Russia will seize it by force if Kyiv does not withdraw. Those positions frame the next round of diplomacy.
The probe unfolds as Russia intensifies strikes on Ukraine’s energy system. Rolling blackouts and hourly outage schedules have been imposed by grid operator Ukrenergo after repeated missile and drone attacks damaged facilities across several regions, including Kyiv. The alleged Energoatom scheme centres on energy contracts, sharpening public concern as winter restrictions bite.
Next steps are immediate. Zelenskyy said he would consult on a new chief of staff on Saturday, 29 November, and that U.S.–Ukraine talks would resume “in the near future”, while a separate U.S. mission is due in Moscow. With EU accession talks and Western support at stake, the handling of Operation Midas - by NABU, SAPO and the courts - will be closely tracked in Brussels and Washington.