Andrii Iermak announced that he is leaving for the front, a day after resigning as Zelenskiy's chief of staff: “I was humiliated and my dignity was not defended”

“I am going to the front and I am ready for any reprisals. I am an honest and fair man. I was humiliated and my dignity was not defended, although I have been in Kiev since February 24, 2022,” Andrii Iermak said in a letter to the American publication New York Post. The information was also announced by Ukrainian journalists from Kyiv Independent.

Iermak's statements came a day after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) raided Iermak's home as part of a wide-ranging investigation into alleged embezzlement at state nuclear operator Energoatom. Yermak resigned as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff following the corruption scandal.

Yermak did not say when he plans to enlist or if he will join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the letter, he emphasizes that he resigned in order not to politically damage the image of Volodymyr Zelensky. The corruption scandal, the biggest since the outbreak of war in February 2022, also led to the resignation of two ministers.

“I don't want to create problems for Zelensky; I'm going to the front,” writes Iermak in the letter sent to the American publication. “I am disgusted by the mess being put on me and even more disgusted by the lack of support from those who know the truth,” he added.

Iermak is not the first high-ranking official who, after resigning, volunteered to go to the front line. The former governor of the Chernivtsi region, Serhii Osachuk, went to the front after his deputy was involved in a case of embezzlement of humanitarian aid funds.

Corruption scandal at the top of power in Kyiv

This month, Ukraine's two anti-corruption bodies unveiled a wide-ranging investigation into an alleged $100 million bribery scheme at the state-run atomic energy company Energoatom involving former senior officials and Zelenskiy's former business partner, Timur Mindich, who prosecutors say was the ringleader. Mindich fled Ukraine before being indicted. Meanwhile, he was pursued.

The publication Ukrainska Pravda reported, based on sources, that Yermak is also involved in the corruption scandal and that investigators refer to him with the pseudonym “Ali Baba”.

“Ali Baba organizes meetings and assigns tasks to law enforcement agencies to ensure that they persecute NABU detectives and anti-corruption prosecutors,” said Ukraine's chief anti-corruption prosecutor, Oleksandr Klimenko.

One of the luxury homes near Kyiv, financed by the Energoatom corruption scheme, was intended for Iermak, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent.

Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Olha Stefanishina, told the New York Post that investigators searched Yermak's home but “did not order any procedural action.” “Iermak resigned because he wanted to end the speculation,” she said.

The fall of Andrii Iermak

Appointed in 2020, Yermak has become one of the most powerful figures in the Ukrainian government, with influence in the fields of security, diplomacy and domestic politics.

Despite the criticism, Zelensky has repeatedly defended him and rejected accusations that Yermak exercised excessive authority. “He came with me, he will leave with me. And he will not stay in any position,” the president said in 2021.

On Friday, upon his departure, Zelensky said Yermak's resignation allowed Kiev to retain the confidence of the Ukrainian public at a difficult time in peace negotiations with the US to end the war with Russia.

“I am grateful to Andrii because Ukraine's position in the negotiations was always presented as it should be: it was always a patriotic position,” Zelenskiy said. “But I want there to be no rumors and no speculation.”

One of Yermak's last actions as chief of staff was to lead the Ukrainian delegation to the US-proposed peace deal negotiations.