Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities on Friday raided the home of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff and top negotiator, Andriy Yermak, searches that come as a massive corruption scandal embroils Kyiv.
Investigators earlier this month said they had uncovered a US$100 million kickback scheme in the strategic energy sector, triggering widespread public anger at a time when Russia is hammering Ukraine’s power grid, causing blackouts and threatening winter heating outages.
The raids are another blow to Zelensky, who is facing a mounting Russian offensive in the east just as the United States, a crucial ally, tabled a surprise plan to end the war that heavily favoured Moscow.
Advertisement
Yermak, 54, was named Ukraine’s top negotiator in talks with Washington to refine that proposal, and analysts said the raids could hurt Kyiv’s position.
Early on Friday, the National Anti-Corruption Agency (NABU) said it, along with the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SPO), conducted “investigative actions [searches] at the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine”.
Advertisement
It did not say what the investigation was about.