![\"Shaun](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Shaun_Walker.png\")
Shaun Walker<\/p>\nYermak’s property search will have huge repercussions for Ukraine and potentially peace talks \u2014 snap reactionShaun Walker<\/p>\n
The revelations that anti-corruption police are searching the property of Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u2019s chief of staff Andriy Yermak will have huge repercussions for the Ukrainian political scene and possibly for peace negotiations as well.<\/p>\n
![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764325689_491_1280.jpg\")
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) and Andriy Yermak (R) are pictured during the President\u2019s address to the US Congress, days after the beginning of Russia\u2019s full-scale aggression on Ukraine in 2022. Photograph: Future Publishing\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
It is hard to overstate the significance of Yermak in the Ukrainian political system.<\/p>\n
He combines multiple roles for Zelenskyy: most trusted sounding board, domestic political enforcer, controller of access to the president, main point of contact for foreign politicians and chief peace negotiator.<\/p>\n
Yermak is such a powerful chief of staff that people who know how the president\u2019s office operates describe his relationship with Zelenskyy as symbiotic.<\/p>\n
Those who have dealt with Yermak, both inside and outside Ukraine<\/a>, describe him as a workaholic and a ruthless operator, who has moved against alternative centres of political influence in the country and has systematically worked to acquire political power.<\/p>\n With such influence inevitably comes enemies, and there are few in the Ukrainian elite who have a positive view of Yermak, though many admire his work ethic and political skills.<\/p>\n Foreign politicians have often appreciated knowing they can use Yermak as a direct line to the president, but some have found him a frustrating interlocutor, and figures in the Trump White House are known to have expressed a preference for dealing with Rustem Umerov, the current head of Ukraine\u2019s security council, over Yermak.<\/p>\n Up to now, Zelenskyy has always resisted calls to fire Yermak or even clip his wings, but if he is now caught up in a corruption scandal, these are likely to get louder. Politically, getting rid of his chief of staff might be Zelenskyy\u2019s smartest move, but those who know both men say the relationship is so close it\u2019s hard to imagine Zelenskyy taking that step.<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose it\u2019s theoretically possible that Zelenskyy could function without him but in practice I can\u2019t imagine that ever happening,\u201d one former senior official told me a couple of months ago.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.27 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Political analyst Viktor Shlinchak, of the Kyiv-based Institute for World Politics, described the searches as a \u201cBlack Friday\u201d for Yermak and suggested Zelenskyy may be forced to dismiss him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks like we may soon have a different head of the negotiating team,\u201d he wrote in a Facebook post, quoted by Reuters.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>‘Everyone will be watching this very closely’ \u2014 snap reaction in Kyiv<\/p>\n Hello Jakub, it\u2019s Dan Sabbagh just walking down the streets in Kyiv.<\/p>\n What to say about this extraordinary news? It\u2019s clearly very significant that Andryi Yermak\u2019s apartment in the government district in the heart of Kyiv has been searched by officers from Ukraine\u2019s powerful NABU anti-corruption agency.<\/p>\n Officers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) pass through a checkpoint in the government quarter in Kyiv. Photograph: Ukrainska Pravda\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n But the question is, what will happen next? It certainly, on the face of it, looks like a widening of the corruption investigation relating to allegations of kickbacks demanded of contractors of the state nuclear energy company, Energoatom.<\/p>\n But of course we don\u2019t know what the outcome of these searches will be and it may well be that the corruption investigators will conclude there\u2019s nothing to see here. So the situation is balanced.<\/p>\n Everyone in Ukraine will be following developments closely. There\u2019s a lot of anger, of course, because of this moment in the war as most Ukrainians in Kyiv, for example, are enduring power outages many hours a day because of the Russian bombing. And so the whole allegation of kickbacks in the most important electricity company, nuclear energy being the most important, it\u2019s a very serious one.<\/p>\n People walk in a street past working generators during blackout caused by Russia’s regular massive attacks on the country’s energy sector in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky\/AP<\/p>\n But for now, the outcome is unclear. Andriy Yermak is President Zelenskyy\u2019s most important aide, the head of his office, inseparable from him since the early days of the invasion and indeed throughout.<\/p>\n Zelensky has always stood by Yermak, and there\u2019s no immediate sign of that changing, but everyone will be watching very closely.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Yermak’s property search will have huge repercussions for Ukraine and potentially peace talks \u2014 snap reaction The revelations that anti-corruption police are searching the property of Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u2019s chief of staff Andriy Yermak will have huge repercussions for the Ukrainian political scene and possibly for peace negotiations as well.<\/p>\n President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) and Andriy Yermak (R) are pictured during the President\u2019s address to the US Congress, days after the beginning of Russia\u2019s full-scale aggression on Ukraine in 2022. Photograph: Future Publishing\/Getty Images<\/p>\n It is hard to overstate the significance of Yermak in the Ukrainian political system.<\/p>\n He combines multiple roles for Zelenskyy: most trusted sounding board, domestic political enforcer, controller of access to the president, main point of contact for foreign politicians and chief peace negotiator.<\/p>\n Yermak is such a powerful chief of staff that people who know how the president\u2019s office operates describe his relationship with Zelenskyy as symbiotic.<\/p>\n Those who have dealt with Yermak, both inside and outside Ukraine<\/a>, describe him as a workaholic and a ruthless operator, who has moved against alternative centres of political influence in the country and has systematically worked to acquire political power.<\/p>\n With such influence inevitably comes enemies, and there are few in the Ukrainian elite who have a positive view of Yermak, though many admire his work ethic and political skills.<\/p>\n Foreign politicians have often appreciated knowing they can use Yermak as a direct line to the president, but some have found him a frustrating interlocutor, and figures in the Trump White House are known to have expressed a preference for dealing with Rustem Umerov, the current head of Ukraine\u2019s security council, over Yermak.<\/p>\n Up to now, Zelenskyy has always resisted calls to fire Yermak or even clip his wings, but if he is now caught up in a corruption scandal, these are likely to get louder. Politically, getting rid of his chief of staff might be Zelenskyy\u2019s smartest move, but those who know both men say the relationship is so close it\u2019s hard to imagine Zelenskyy taking that step.<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose it\u2019s theoretically possible that Zelenskyy could function without him but in practice I can\u2019t imagine that ever happening,\u201d one former senior official told me a couple of months ago.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.27 EST<\/p>\n Hungary’s Orb\u00e1n expected to visit Putin for talks on energy, Ukraine<\/p>\n Another big story happening today is Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s unexpected visit to Moscow, where he is due for talks with Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin<\/a> on energy supplies and ending the Ukraine war.<\/p>\n Russian president Vladimir Putin (R) shaking hands with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n (L) during their meeting in the Kemlin in Moscow, Russia. Photograph: Vivien Cher Benko\/HUNGARIAN PM’S PRESS OFFICE HANDOUT\/EPA<\/p>\n \u201cI am going there to ensure that Hungary\u2019s energy supply is secured for the winter and the following year at an affordable price,\u201d Orb\u00e1n said in a video uploaded to Facebook.<\/a><\/p>\n Hungary has been Russia\u2019s closest ally in the EU, repeatedly criticising the bloc\u2019s response to the Russian aggression on Ukraine<\/a>, calling for more engagement with Moscow and for sanctions to be lifted.<\/p>\n AFP noted that since returning to power in 2010, Orb\u00e1n has met Putin 15 times, including four times since the full-scale invasion in 2022.<\/p>\n The Hungarian prime minister is facing a tricky parliamentary election early next year, with his Fidesz party trailing behind the pro-EU opposition forces in the polls, which may explain why he is looking for successes wherever he can find it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n If you\u2019re wondering how serious for Ukraine and Zelenskyy this could get, let\u2019s just say that Yermak has overnight literally fronted Ukraine\u2019s response to the latest peace talks, with an interview in The Atlantic magazine<\/a> in the US.<\/p>\n Characterised as \u201cZelenskyy\u2019s chief of staff, lead negotiator and closest aid throughout the full-scale war with Russia<\/a>,\u201d Yermak insisted that \u201cnot a single sane person today would sign a document to give up territory.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as Zelensky is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory,\u201d he told the magazine by telephone from Kyiv.<\/p>\n He was also directly involved in the talks in Geneva over the weekend.<\/p>\n US state secretary Marco Rubio (R) and Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, meet the press at the United States Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland. Photograph: Xinhua\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.51 EST<\/p>\n Morning opening: Zelenskyy’s number two sees apartment searched as part of anti-graft probe Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities are searching properties linked to president Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u2019s powerful chief of staff Andriy Yermak.<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (R) and Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak (L) pose for the press, as they meet with Spain\u2019s King Felipe at the Zarzuela Palace, in Madrid, Spain earlier this month. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura\/Reuters<\/p>\n In a post on Telegram<\/a>, Yermak confirmed the authorities were given \u201cfull access\u201d to his apartment, and that he is cooperating with the officers, with his lawyers present.<\/p>\n In a joint statement, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine<\/a> and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor\u2019s Office said the searches were \u201cauthorised\u201d and linked to an unspecified investigation.<\/p>\n \u201cNABU and SAPO are conducting investigative actions (searches) at the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine,\u201d they said. \u201cInvestigative actions are authorised and are being carried out within the framework of an investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n It was not immediately clear what was the investigation about.<\/p>\n Reuters noted that erlier this month, the two agencies unveiled a sweeping investigation into an alleged $100m kickback scheme at the stage atomic energy company, involving Zelenskyy\u2019s ex-business partner.<\/p>\n While Yermak has not been named a suspect in the investigation, but opposition lawmakers and some members of Zelenskyy\u2019s own party had called for his dismissal as part of Ukraine\u2019s worst wartime political crisis, the agency said.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Ukraine had been engulfed in a political crisis over Zelenskyy\u2019s controversial plans to reform the anti-corruption authorites, which ultimately had to be reversed after intense international criticism, including from the European Union, which continues to say that the fight against corruption remains one of Ukraine\u2019s key task on its path to join the bloc.<\/p>\n The searches come at a tricky time for Ukraine amid growing pressure from the US to agree to a peace deal with Russia<\/a>, and any perceived or real sense of wrongdoings at the top of the government could undermine Ukraine\u2019s position further.<\/p>\n This could be explosive.<\/p>\n I will bring you all the key updates throughout the day.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Friday, 28 November 2025, it\u2019s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.<\/p>\n Good morning.<\/p>\n![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Dan-Sabbagh,-L.png\")
Dan Sabbagh<\/p>\nShaun Walker<\/p>\n![\"Jakub](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764325689_314_Jakub_Krupa.png\")
Jakub Krupa<\/p>\n