The attacks on such a crucial ally could hardly come at a more sensitive moment for Zelenskyy. Kyiv faces a massive budget shortfall, and the president must convince his Western allies that Ukraine is a safe place to send billions of euros in vital funding. Two people directly involved in the political discussions said Zelenskyy would fight back and defend Yermak from the mounting criticism later this week.
While there have been attempts to link Yermak directly to the snowballing corruption scandal, the campaign against him is also a sign of broader frustration — within both the opposition and Zelenskyy’s party — over Yermak’s domineering presence in the presidential office. An earlier drive by that office to strip Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau of its independence triggered public fury in July.
Energy scandal
The immediate flashpoint rocking Ukrainian politics — and fueling the attack against Yermak — is a corruption scandal in the country’s shattered energy sector.
The controversy erupted last week after current and former officials were officially charged with manipulating contracts at Energoatom, the state nuclear energy company, to extract kickbacks. Government investigators say the network laundered roughly $100 million through a secret Kyiv-based office. Most have publicly denied the accusations.
Yermak’s political opponents are trying to link him directly to the scandal — saying either he or one of his lieutenants is the anonymous individual referred to as Ali Baba in wiretaps related to the energy case. The NABU anti-corruption bureau, however, says it can “neither confirm nor deny” that allegation, and Yermak himself protests his innocence.
“People mention me, and sometimes, absolutely without any evidence, they try to accuse me of things I don’t even know about,” he told POLITICO’s sister publication Welt in the Axel Springer Group last week, when asked directly whether he was involved.