SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Today in Ukraine, a top aide of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy resigned in a corruption probe. Andriy Yermak has often been described as the second-most powerful man in the country after Zelenskyy. His resignation comes after anti-corruption officials raided his residence and office today. This comes at a deeply sensitive time for Zelenskyy and Ukrainian leadership as they're being pressured to work on a peace deal with Russia brokered by officials in the Trump administration. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley joins us now from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Hi, Eleanor.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Hello, Scott.
DETROW: How did this all unfold?
BEARDSLEY: Well, you know, this is fallout from an unfolding and very explosive corruption scandal that broke in mid-November about the siphoning off of at least $100 million tied to energy-sector contracts and exposed by Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau. So far, eight officials, some close to Zelenskyy, are under investigation and two have fled the country, but more heads could roll. Zelenskyy himself is not implicated, but there are huge suspicions around his right-hand man, Andriy Yermak.
And, Scott, this comes at such a sensitive time, where Ukraine is negotiating its future with the Trump administration and Russia. You know, we saw the emergence of a very pro-Russian first draft of a peace deal proposal put out by the U.S., which shocked Ukraine and its European allies. It's been amended now, after talks in Geneva this week. But it's a critical time for Ukraine, and this scandal is weakening Zelenskyy and his negotiating power and giving fodder to his enemies, of course including the Kremlin.
So we don't know if investigators found anything this morning at Yermak's apartment, but Zelenskyy clearly has had enough. In his daily video address on social media, he said he accepted Yermak's resignation. Let's listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: So he said, for our internal strength, there should be no reason to be distracted by anything other than the defense of Ukraine. And he went on to say, Russia really wants Ukraine to make mistakes. We will make no mistakes.
DETROW: So we know Yermak is powerful. We know that he's been a close ally of Zelenskyy. Tell us a little more about him and what role he's played in this wartime government.
BEARDSLEY: Well, he's a former film producer. He goes way back with Zelenskyy - a business partner in Zelenskyy's TV days before being elected president of Ukraine in 2019. And he's really been Zelenskyy's right-hand man in office, and the two are close personal friends. They've basically lived in close quarters in the presidential compound, behind the sandbags. They're said to even work out together, watch movies together to lower their stress.
But over time, Yermak has amassed a lot of power. He basically ran the executive office. Everything went through him. And a majority of Ukrainians are happy about his resignation. I spoke with Oleksandr Kraiev, with a foreign policy think tank, and he says this shows that the anti-corruption authorities really are working independently. He says it's good for Ukraine domestically and internationally. Here he is.
OLEKSANDR KRAIEV: It's a good move because - well, not only in internal politics because, yes, Yermak was - mostly everybody despised him in internal politics. Everybody understood the level of his personal control over Zelenskyy. It is also a good move in international politics because when Yermak is not on the stage, it will be much, much easier to communicate.
BEARDSLEY: Because, he says, officials in the Biden and Trump administrations and the Europeans - none of them liked Yermak.
DETROW: So looking forward, who's going to be named in his place?
BEARDSLEY: We don't know. Zelenskyy said this will be decided in the coming days, but these are crucial days. Yermak did have a lot of experience negotiating with the Trump administration, and he was expected to come to Florida in the coming days with Zelenskyy for peace talks with President Trump. So we'll see who replaces him.
DETROW: That is NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reporting for us in Kyiv. Eleanor, thanks so much.
BEARDSLEY: You're welcome, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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