Kyiv, Ukraine – December 6, 2025 – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has formally stripped his long-time chief of staff Andriy Yermak of his remaining positions on Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, completing a dramatic purge that began with Yermak’s resignation as head of the Presidential Office last week.
Two presidential decrees published Friday afternoon on the official government website removed Yermak from both bodies with immediate effect. The move comes one week after Zelenskyy announced a sweeping “reboot” of his administration and confirmed that Yermak had submitted his resignation.
The timing is directly linked to an explosive corruption investigation. On the morning of Yermak’s resignation announcement, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office conducted high-profile searches at properties connected to Yermak and his former deputies. The probe centres on a $100 million scheme involving kickbacks from contracts to protect Ukraine’s nuclear power plants against Russian missile strikes.
Investigators allege that senior officials and private contractors skimmed 10–15 % from deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars, even as ordinary Ukrainians endured prolonged blackouts this winter. While Yermak has not been formally charged, three of his closest former deputies have already faced criminal proceedings, and several ministers have resigned in connection with the scandal.
In a separate decree issued the same day, Zelenskyy appointed National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov to lead Ukraine’s delegation in ongoing peace negotiations with Russia and the United States, effectively replacing Yermak in one of Kyiv’s most sensitive diplomatic roles.
Umerov, a former Defense Minister and Crimean Tatar businessman with close ties to Western partners, is seen as a technocratic figure less associated with the old guard. His team is now tasked with steering talks that have gained urgency since the Trump administration signalled it wants a rapid end to the war.
Yermak had been widely regarded as the second-most powerful man in Ukraine since Zelenskyy appointed him head of the Presidential Office in 2020. During the full-scale war, he became the president’s indispensable gatekeeper, leading sensitive back-channel diplomacy with Washington, Moscow, and Middle Eastern mediators, and sitting in on virtually every major security meeting.
His sudden fall from grace has stunned political circles in Kyiv. Opposition lawmakers had threatened to fracture Zelenskyy’s parliamentary majority if the president did not act decisively against perceived cronyism, while Western donors — who have provided over $200 billion in aid since 2022 — have repeatedly made continued support conditional on credible anti-corruption measures.
Zelenskyy has framed the shake-up as essential for national unity. “We must remove any doubts and rumours that weaken us from within,” he said in last week’s address. “There is only one Ukraine, and we have to hold on.”
Yermak himself has denied any wrongdoing and stated that he fully cooperated with investigators. Sources close to the Presidential Office suggest he may still advise Zelenskyy informally on humanitarian and investment issues, but he no longer holds any official position.
The scandal has exposed deep vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s wartime governance, with critics arguing that unchecked power in the hands of a narrow circle around the president created fertile ground for abuse. At the same time, supporters insist that decisive action against high-level figures — even the president’s closest ally — proves the independence of anti-corruption institutions.
As Umerov prepares to lead the next round of negotiations, the leadership reset sends a clear signal both at home and abroad: Kyiv is willing to sacrifice powerful insiders to preserve domestic cohesion and keep Western aid flowing at a moment when battlefield momentum and diplomatic options remain uncertain.
