Zelensky ousts top negotiator Yermak Amid Russian drone strikes on Kyiv

Yermak resigns as Kyiv attacked

Volodymyr Zelensky removed his powerful chief of staff and top negotiator Andriy Yermak late Friday, just hours before Ukraine’s capital came under sustained Russian drone attacks overnight.

Yermak’s removal dealt a serious political blow to Zelensky at a moment when Ukraine is facing intensified Russian military pressure in the east and mounting U.S. efforts to push a peace plan that Kyiv fears would hand major concessions to Moscow.

Ukrainian negotiators are expected in the United States this weekend for talks on Washington’s plan to end the war. Yermak, 54, had been scheduled to lead those negotiations on Kyiv’s behalf before his abrupt dismissal.

Zelensky said he would hold consultations on Saturday to determine who would replace Yermak as Ukraine’s top negotiator.

Russian drones struck Kyiv during the night, killing one person, injuring around a dozen others and damaging residential buildings in multiple districts, city officials said.

Explosions were heard through the night and the air raid alert lasted more than nine hours.

"The western part of the capital is without electricity. Power workers will be working to restore supply," Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said on Telegram.

Leading the peace talks this weekend will now be Ukrainian security council secretary Rustem Umerov, according to two senior Ukrainian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Just last week, Zelensky had named Yermak as Ukraine’s top negotiator in what was widely seen as a public show of confidence, despite growing political pressure from opposition figures to remove the divisive chief of staff.

But on Friday, Zelensky announced in a video address: "The Office of the President of Ukraine will be reorganised. The head of the office, Andriy Yermak, has submitted his resignation."

Minutes later, Zelensky signed a decree "to dismiss" Yermak.

Earlier on Friday, investigators from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Agency and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office said they had raided Yermak’s apartment as part of an investigation.

They did not disclose what the probe was about, and Yermak said he was cooperating fully with investigators.

Yermak has been accused of involvement in a $100 million kickback scheme in the strategic energy sector, uncovered by investigators earlier this month.

The case sparked widespread public anger at a time when Russia is hammering Ukraine’s power grid, causing blackouts and threatening winter heating outages.

As the scandal unfolded, Zelensky sought to rally the population on Friday.

"If we lose our unity, we risk losing everything: ourselves, Ukraine, our future," he said in the address.

Yermak's influence

Yermak was Zelensky's most important ally but in Kyiv, his opponents say he has accumulated power, gate-keeps access to the president and ruthlessly sidelines critical voices.

A former film producer and copyright lawyer, he came into politics with Zelensky in 2019, having previously worked with the now-president during his time as a popular comedian.

Yermak was widely considered the second-most influential man in the country and even sometimes nicknamed "vice-president".

"Yermak doesn't allow anyone to get to Zelensky except loyal people," a former senior official who worked with Zelensky and Yermak told AFP, describing him as "super paranoid".

"He definitely tries to influence almost every decision," they added.

A senior source in Zelensky's party said Yermak's influence over the president was akin to "hypnosis".

Speaking after the raid on Yermak, the European Union backed the work of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies.

"We have a lot of respect for those investigations which show that the anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine are doing their work," said European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho.

Zelensky had in the summer tried to strip the independence of NABU and SPO, triggering rare wartime protests and forcing him to walk back the decision after criticism from the EU.

Pressure on Zelensky

Yermak had been a stalwart by Zelensky's side throughout the war.

The two men are seen together on official photos of almost all presidential events.

According to media reports, their beds stand side by side in the presidential office's underground bunker, and in their free time, they play table tennis, watch movies or work out.

But he is widely unpopular in society and distrusted by two-thirds of the population, according to a March 2025 poll by the Razumkov Centre, an NGO.

Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told AFP before Yermak's removal that he needed to go to shore up Kyiv's position in talks with the United States.

Alluding to the vulnerability of the moment, Zelensky also stressed that he could not afford to make political missteps at this moment.

"Russia really wants Ukraine to make mistakes," he said.

"There will be no mistakes on our part."

(With inputs from AFP)