Former top Ukrainian official under cloud of corruption probe ordered removed from state bodies

ISTANBUL

A top Ukrainian official under investigation over possible corruption was removed Friday from the country’s National Security and Defense Council and the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

An online decree from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday confirmed former Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak Yermak’s removal from both state bodies. “This decree shall enter into force on the date of its publication,” it added.

Zelenskyy’s decree comes a week after he announced an overhaul of the Presidential Office in an address, also declaring that Yermak had submitted his resignation.

Earlier that day, Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies announced they were doing searches targeting Yermak, who became the head of the presidential office in 2020, including a $100 million energy sector corruption scandal.

Following the dismissal, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov was appointed by Zelenskyy to lead Kyiv's delegation for ongoing peace negotiations in the Russia-Ukraine war, replacing Yermak.