The Kremlin has sought to exploit the scandal and delighted Friday in what it said would be the “very negative” consequences of the latest development.
In a post on Facebook early Friday, NABU said that its investigators, along with those from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, were “conducting investigative actions” into the president’s chief of staff.
Yermak, a key figure in talks with the United States, confirmed in a statement on Telegram shortly afterward that corruption investigators were “conducting procedural actions” at his home and that he was fully cooperating.
“There are no obstacles for the investigators,” he said. “They were given full access to the apartment, my lawyers are on site, interacting with law enforcement officers. From my side, there is full cooperation.” NBC News has reached out to Yermak for further comment.
It comes after weeks of mounting pressure on Zelenskyy to fire Yermak, who has been a steady right hand to the Ukrainian president throughout four years of war.
Speculation has long swirled that Yermak could be embroiled in the scandal, which has fueled public anger and been seized on by the Kremlin to try to undermine Ukraine’s leadership.
Friday’s searches make him the highest-ranking government official to be implicated by NABU so far.
Lawmakers and opposition figures called for Zelenskyy to fire Yermak effective immediately, without waiting for the outcome of the searches.
“The most difficult thing after the searches into Yermak is to find a person who will be surprised by everything that becomes publicly known,” opposition lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko wrote on Telegram before Yermak’s resignation.
Two ministers were fired in connection with the probe earlier this month, and former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who has also featured prominently in negotiations with the U.S., has been mentioned by investigators but not faced any charges.
The scandal centers on an alleged scheme in which prosecutors said current and former officials, and businesspeople, received benefits and laundered money through the country’s state energy company, Energoatom, according to investigators.
Yermak has been a constant presence next to Zelenskyy through the ups and downs of the war, and has emerged as one of the few men that the Ukrainian leader appeared to really trust.
Critics have said for years that Yermak had accumulated too much power and wielded excessive influence over Zelenskyy.
As recently as Thursday, Yermak vowed that Zelenskyy would not agree to give up land in exchange for peace, a key sticking point in negotiations.
“Not a single sane person today would sign a document to give up territory,” Yermak said in an interview with The Atlantic.
Ukraine is facing immense pressure from the U.S. to accept a deal to end the war, but Kyiv and its allies in Europe have pushed back against Kremlin demands that Ukraine cede key territory it still holds in the east.
