And tall and burly man appears in practically all the photos of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in the countless official events and trips that the kyiv leader has made since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago.
Dressed in the first phase of the conflict in olive green clothing that he would later change to the suits and ties What he looks like now, Andrí Yermak (kyiv, 1971) was on paper, until this Friday he submitted his resignation due to suspicions of corruption, Zelensky’s chief of staff.
But the duties he performed went beyond what was expected of the position, which led to this former lawyer and film producer who as a young man made his way as a jack-of-all-trades from a nightclub frequented by oligarchs to being considered the de facto prime minister and foreign minister and the only person capable of influencing the Ukrainian president.
Anti-corruption detectives searched Yermak’s home and office this Friday, forcing Zelensky to finally let go of who he had been throughout the war. your most trusted man.
Singled out by his critics for the control he exercised over the president’s meeting agenda, Yermak overshadowed all the ministers whose field of responsibility intersected with the practically unlimited mandate of Zelensky’s trusted man.
In Granada, when the Ukrainian president met with King Felipe VI, Yermak sat on the visitors’ side the place next to Zelensky, while the then Foreign Minister, Dmitró Kuleba, was relegated to a lower-ranking position.
Kuleba would end up being replaced by the current Foreign Minister, Andrí Sibiga, a diplomat close to Yermak and with a lower profile than his predecessor.
Something similar happened on a visit to Ankara. Already dressed in a suit, Yermak sat next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoganleaving the head of the Council for National Security and Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umérov, on an adjacent sofa despite the fact that he was theoretically leading the Ukrainian team in the peace negotiations that were going to be addressed.
Faced with criticism of their prominence, both Yermak and Zelensky had argued until now that complete dedication and unfailing loyalty of his right hand is exactly what the former comedian needs to exercise the role of head of state that corresponds to him without having to deal with the most annoying matters.
Among the achievements that supported Yermak highlights having negotiated in 2019, when he was already advising Zelensky but had not yet become his shadow or his chief of staff, a prisoner exchange with Russia in which more than thirty Ukrainians captured by pro-Russian rebels in Donbas returned.
His service record failed to convince a large part of Ukrainians, however. Aware of the difficulties of changing the president in the midst of martial law, most of Zelensky’s critics avoided calling for his departure and They were content with demanding the dismissal of his right handwhich today has been consummated.
According to a profile published by The Financial Times, Zelensky and Yermak They have lived together since the beginning of the conflict and they shared almost all their days, working or playing table tennis, watching movie classics or exercising together in the little free time they have.
After uncovering this month an alleged bribery scheme in which a former business partner of Zelensky and several ministers would have participated, Ukrainian Telegram channels began to fill with rumors about Yermak’s alleged involvement in the scandal.
Zelensky’s collaborators and deputies from his own party already asked him to get rid of his lieutenant, but the then president He ignored these voices and appointed Yermak as head of the Ukrainian negotiating team. in contacts with the US on Washington’s peace plan.
Ukrainians woke up this Friday to the news of the searches of Yermak carried out by anti-corruption authorities.
While waiting to know if Yermak ends up being charged, Zelensky has decided release ballast so as not to further compromise its image inside and outside the country, in the midst of peace negotiations with the US that are decisive for the future of Ukraine.
Yermak had become a symbol of management style which, at least until now, has characterized Zelensky, described by the president’s former advisor Alexander Rodnianski in a recent article in The Economist in the following terms.
“(…) the presidential team has systematically personalized power. The cabinet of ministers has been treated more like an administrative extension of the Presidential Office than as an independent center of political decision-making. Loyalty has prevailed over competition. “Institutional roles have been devalued.”