Ukraine’s Zelensky stands by chief of staff as graft accusations grow

KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told lawmakers that he will stand by his powerful chief of staff despite mounting pressure to oust him in response to a growing corruption scandal. 

The Ukrainian leader rebuffed demands to fire the top official and close ally, Mr Andriy Yermak, during a meeting with his party late on Nov 20, according to people familiar with the exchange.

Mr Zelensky said he expected further pressure in the coming weeks after the

US put forward a peace blueprint

that calls on Ukraine to cede territory to Russia, according to the people familiar with the matter. 

The remarks came as the Ukrainian leader seeks to defuse domestic anger over the latest accusations of graft and influence peddling by senior officials in Kyiv, including Zelensky allies. 

After

two Cabinet members stepped down

last week, Mr Zelensky vowed to punish all officials involved – even as he warned lawmakers that they would be held responsible for undermining stability by mounting pressure on Ukraine’s wartime leadership, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

The turmoil presents a layer of domestic pressure for Mr Zelensky as he contends with a new US-Russian proposal to end the war that will involve sweeping concessions to President Vladimir Putin.

It also puts on display a rare show of defiance from the president’s own party, which has largely maintained unity in the nearly four years of Russia’s invasion. 

Ms Mariana Bezuhla, a lawmaker with Mr Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party – which swept to victory in 2019 on a campaign to root out corruption – said that the tenor of the meeting was “bad.”

In comments on Facebook, Ms Bezuhla, who has a track record of critical commentary about government decisions, signalled that the president is being badly counselled by advisors, who tend to offer a “warm bath of information.” 

Mr Yermak, a close Mr Zelensky ally who wields outsized power in Kyiv, is not implicated in the corruption scandal.

But lawmakers hold him responsible for a failed plan in July to scrap the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, a move that triggered a chorus of criticism from Kyiv’s allies. 

The public focus on Mr Yermak is based on concerns that the chief of staff controls excessive power within the presidential administration, according to a lawmaker in the presidential party’s parliamentary group, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity after Mr Zelensky urged allies to avoid public censure. 

The Ukrainian leader’s public backing had climbed to 60 per cent in October after suffering a sharp drop mid-year because of outrage over corruption, according to an opinion poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

Mr Zelensky’s meeting with lawmakers took place more than a week after one of his closest allies, Mr Timur Mindich, was accused of running a graft scheme involving several ministers that was aimed at siphoning money from the state-run nuclear power operator Energoatom.

Mr Mindich, who has yet to respond to the allegations, fled the country. 

In her post, Ms Bezuhla said she was the only lawmaker who raised the issue of Mr Mindich in the meeting, a reflection of the level of caution within the party regarding questions about the presence of graft in the president’s inner circle. 

‘It works against Ukraine’

Lawmakers initially approved legislation rushed through Parliament in July that

stripped the independence of Ukraine’s two main anti-graft bodies

, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

But days after Mr Zelensky signed the Bill, he reversed course in the face of public and international pressure. 

Mr Yermak sought to calm public anger by meeting with students, but the effort gained little traction as he confronted harsh criticism. 

Such reaction resonates with Ukrainians on and off the battlefield.

Mr Ivan Darmoroz, a 43-year-old chess trainer, said the president himself should face the consequences. 

“Zelensky should step down as soon as possible and take responsibility instead of showing that he isn’t guilty, but that the people around him are,” Mr Darmoroz said in a message. 

Mr Serhiy, a 41-year-old military officer, said the allegations are all too familiar in a country where corruption has long been widespread. 

“I’m glad it’s been exposed,” said Mr Serhiy, who declined to give his last name because he wasn’t authorised to speak publicly. “The only problem is that it works against Ukraine geopolitically.” BLOOMBERG