Zelensky's ex-chief of staff in court as Ukraine corruption probe escalates
Key takeaways
- Hours before the court hearing Yermak told reporters "I do not have any house, I only have one flat and one car", adding later that he would comment afterwards.
- For years he was a close friend of Zelensky, and led Ukraine's talks with the US until an anti-corruption raid on his flat last November prompted his resignation.
- Ukraine's Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office (Sapo) said it was asking the Kyiv court to either place him in preventive detention or give him bail of about $4m (£3m).
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Paul Kirby Europe digital editor Reuters Andriy Yermak said he had only one flat and one car, and his lawyer said the allegations were "baseless"President Volodymyr Zelensky's former right-hand man Andriy Yermak appeared in a Kyiv court on Tuesday, after he was named by Ukraine's two anti-corruption agencies as a suspect in a money-laundering scheme.
Yermak's lawyer had earlier denounced as "baseless" allegations that the former head of the presidential office had been caught up in a corruption scandal surrounding a $10.5m (£7.5m) luxury construction project outside Kyiv.
Hours before the court hearing Yermak told reporters "I do not have any house, I only have one flat and one car", adding later that he would comment afterwards.