A test for Ukraine, a dilemma for Zelensky: What's at stake in the Andriy Yermak corruption probe
Key takeaways
- By: Paul MILLAR Former presidential office head Andriy Yermak appears at a hearing in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 12, 2026. © Alina Smutko, Reuters You’d think the fortune teller would have tipped him off.
- The court has set Yermak’s bail at $3.2 million, which he says he doesn’t have.
- Yermak allegedly shared candidates’ birth dates with the astrologer, who would in turn tell Ukraine’s second-most powerful man whose appointment the stars most favoured.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The arrest of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former right-hand man Andriy Yermak Thursday in connection to a corruption scandal comes as a major test for both the Ukrainian government and the country's independent anti-corruption agencies. Yermak is accused of laundering 460 million hryvnia (more than $10 million) in dirty money through an elite real estate project outside of Kyiv – and of having used a secret phone to consult an astrologer on key government appointments.
By: Paul MILLAR Former presidential office head Andriy Yermak appears at a hearing in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 12, 2026. © Alina Smutko, Reuters You’d think the fortune teller would have tipped him off. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former chief of staff Andriy Yermak, who for years made key government appointments, drafted potential peace plans and held back-channel talks with both Washington and Moscow, was taken into pre-trial detention Thursday on money-laundering charges after a three-day hearing in Kyiv.
The 54-year-old lawyer and former film producer stands accused of being involved in laundering more than $10 million in embezzled funds through the construction of lavish private mansions in the village of Kozyn on the capital’s southern outskirts.