Global & US Headlines
Ukraine’s Power Broker Falls: Chief of Staff Yermak Quits After Anti-Graft Raid
On 28 Nov 2025 Andriy Yermak, President Zelensky’s long-time chief of staff and lead peace negotiator, resigned just hours after anti-corruption agents searched his residence in Kyiv as part of a $100 million Energoatom kickback investigation.
Focusing Facts
- NABU and SAPO officers raided Yermak’s apartment inside the presidential compound on the morning of 28 Nov 2025; by afternoon Zelensky announced Yermak’s resignation in a video address.
- Investigators say officials skimmed 10–15 % from Energoatom contracts, siphoning more than $100 million (€93 m, £75 m) during the 15-month scheme codenamed “Operation Midas.”
- Two energy ministers and former Deputy PM Oleksiy Chernyshov were dismissed earlier in November, and fugitive businessman Tymur Mindich—Zelensky’s former business partner—is named as the alleged mastermind.
Context
History rarely gives wartime leaders breathing room for domestic scandal: when South Vietnam’s President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu lost U.S. confidence after the 1972 corruption exposes, Washington’s leverage in Paris talks spiked; Kyiv now faces an eerily similar squeeze. Yermak’s fall lays bare three longer-term currents: (1) the post-2014 attempt to build autonomous anti-graft institutions that even the president cannot muzzle; (2) the persistent use of corruption revelations by foreign powers—whether Moscow’s info-ops or Washington’s conditional aid—to steer Ukraine’s negotiating posture; and (3) the fragility of personalized power networks in a state trying to integrate into EU legal norms while fighting a high-intensity war. Viewed on a century scale, the episode matters less for any single resignation than for whether Ukraine can institutionalize rule-of-law during existential conflict—something few states, from Italy’s 1992 “Mani Pulite” to China’s ongoing anti-graft drives, have managed without veering into political purges. If Kyiv’s watchdogs survive this test, the scandal may mark a painful but necessary step toward durable governance; if they are co-opted or crippled, today’s ‘golden toilet’ headlines will be remembered as the moment the promise of the 2014 Maidan reforms quietly bled away.
Perspectives
Independent Russian media
e.g., Meduza — Treats the Energoatom kickback scheme as Zelensky’s biggest scandal yet but argues it still lacks the power to force him into ceding territory in U.S.–Russia peace talks. By foregrounding Kyiv infighting while stressing that capitulation remains unlikely, the outlet walks a line that criticises Zelensky without bolstering the Kremlin, reflecting its need to appear tough on Ukrainian corruption yet hostile to Russian narratives.
Right-leaning U.S. media
e.g., New York Post, Daily Caller, Independent Sentinel — Portrays the probe and Yermak’s resignation as proof Zelensky is ‘under siege,’ suggesting his weakened position increases U.S. leverage and validates Donald Trump’s push for a quick peace deal. Framing emphasises corruption and portrays Trump as the indispensable deal-maker, downplaying Moscow’s aggression while casting doubt on Kyiv’s legitimacy – a narrative that aligns with domestic partisan incentives in the U.S.
Mainstream liberal/centrist international media
e.g., The Independent, The Hindu — Highlights that the scandal is politically disastrous for Zelensky yet argues Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies are functioning and warns that Putin – and a pro-Kremlin Trump White House – will weaponise the turmoil. Tends to stress institutional resilience and democratic contrast with Russia, potentially soft-peddling how deeply the scandal could erode public trust or negotiating strength in order to sustain pro-Ukraine solidarity.