Name: Anti-corruption authorities raid Zelenskyy's chief-of-staff's home and office | DW News
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Ukraine's anti corruption authorities have carried out searches at the home and office of President Zelensky's chief of staff.

Andrew Yermak is Zelensky's most important ally and Ukraine's lead negotiator in peace talks with the US And Russia.

Yermak says he's cooperating with the investigators.

The anti corruption agencies said the searches were linked to an unspecified investigation.

Earlier this month, they uncovered what they called a $100 million kickback scheme in the strategic energy sector.

Take a closer look and bring in our correspondent Nick Connolly and Kevin.

What do we know about what's behind this raid?

Well, we are seeing reports that this is connected to that case that was making waves just basically a week, 10 days ago about corruption in the energy sphere.

Money being siphoned off, bribes demanded, the construction of protective structures to protect Ukraine's energy infrastructure from the Russian attacks everyone knew were coming.

That has all not been officially confirmed yet, but

as you mentioned there yet, Mark saying he is not trying to stop the investigations.

He's opened his home and his office to that.

But it does seem like there is more to it.

We're getting reports the last couple of hours since we saw the dramatic pictures of investigators there at the presidential compound earlier this morning that potentially that's the kind of the story here being told here in Ukraine that people from Yermak's kind of circle, maybe himself, were about to attack the anti corruption organizations, those institutions try and come out with kind of legal cases against the people in charge of those organizations.

So maybe this was a kind of preventative strike.

But we certainly saw earlier in the year that the government was trying to take the independence of those anti corruption bodies away.

Now, we all presume that was because they knew these cases were coming.

It's one that's got people very angry at a time where people are dealing with blackouts because the energy system hasn't been protected as well as maybe it could have.

And it is very dangerous for Volodymyr Zelensky, who might have thought that this was all over after all the talk of Trump's peace plan and that he could just get back to normal.

And I want to give our viewers some context because corruption has of course long been a major issue in Ukraine.

Most recently, pressure had been growing on the president to purge his cabinet amid graft allegations.

The former justice minister, the former energy Minister, a former Deputy Prime Minister, a close business associate of the President, an entrepreneur, all caught up in a massive corruption scandal.

Now there are calls for the President's Chief of Staff to resign so that President Volodymyr Zelensky can show he's taking decisive action.

Prosecutors say that several conspirators took kickbacks during the construction of structures meant to protect energy facilities from Russian air attacks.

Investigators seized safes full of cash and the conspirators allegedly referred to each other with codenames like Alibaba and Professor.

President Zelensky condemned the alleged conspiracy and fired his justice and Energy ministers, seeking to put space between himself and the scandal.

First of all, there should be maximum transparency in the energy sector and in all processes.

I support every investigation by law enforcement and anti corruption bodies.

I believe that the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Energy cannot remain in their positions.

If there are accusations, they must be answered.

Not everyone connected to the scandal has been charged with a crime.

Former Justice Minister Hermann Halushenko and former Energy Minister Svetlanach Runchuk are under investigation.

Businessman Timor Mindich, a former associate of President Zelenskyy, has been charged, but

is thought to be hiding in Israel with another conspirator.

But many lawmakers have called on Zelenskyy to fire his chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, seen here on the right in file footage.

He's not been accused, but has great influence over government appointments.

Firing him might allow Zelenskyy to earn back trust.

For many Ukrainians, the energy scandal is infuriating at a time when power is undependable after nearly constant Russian attacks on the energy grid.

With winter setting in internationally, the corruption story puts Zelenskyy in a weakened position just as Ukraine comes under pressure to accept a peace plan drawn up by the US And Russia.

A time when Zelenskyy needs all the political capital he can get.

Much best regards to President Trump, please.

How much political capital could this latest development cost Zelensky?

What implications could this have for the credibility of his government at a moment really of extremely high stakes?

It is very, very dangerous internationally in terms of getting foreign donors to keep on keeping this country afloat, giving billions of euros or at least loaning money, sending weapons, but

I think for now, Ukraine society is not about to kind of call for Zelensky to go.

It definitely means his political future after the war is under serious threat.

But I think it's really dangerous now because all these ministers were all kind of less important figures.

You have to remember that Andrey Yermak is basically the second man in this country, even though formally he's only the head of the presidential administration.

He basically, it's believed, decides all major appointments, makes the big calls, and

especially since Zelensky basically out informally to his lawmakers last week when we had the first allegations and said, I am not going to fire Yermak, he's my guy, I'll fire the rest.

So now if we hear more and we get proof, which we haven't seen yet, that actually Yermak was profiting from these schemes rather than potentially knowing about them or, you know, that's.

That would be the really dangerous moment.

If there's an ability to show that he was profiting personally, that is then going to be incredibly difficult for Zelensky to hold on and keep him in place.