Zelensky's chief of staff resigns in graft inquiry

Investigators search the home of Andriy Yermak, Ukraine's lead peace negotiator.

- BY ILLIA NOVIKOV AND ISOBEL KOSHIW

ANDRIY YERMAK is a confidant of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

(OSCAR DEL POZO AFP/Getty Images)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Friday the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, whose residence was searched earlier in the day by anti-corruption investigators.

Yermak has been Ukraine's lead negotiator in peace talks with Russia and the United States. He has also been a trusted confidant of Zelensky for years.

The unprecedented searches at the heart of Ukraine's government come at a time when Kyiv is under intense U.S. pressure to sign a peace deal nearly four years after Russia invaded.

Two national agencies fighting entrenched corruption in Ukraine said their searches targeted Yermak. Oleksii Tkachuk, a spokesperson for Yermak, said the anti-graft agencies had not served Yermak a notice of suspicion, meaning he was not a suspect in an investigation. Tkachuk added that Yermak had not been told what the searches related to.

Yermak confirmed that investigators searched his apartment in the presidential compound in downtown Kyiv, where checkpoints limit public access.

Media reports said Yermak's office was also searched, but investigators declined to comment on that.

It was unclear where Zelensky or Yermak were at the time of the morning raid.