Ukrainian parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk and Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko were among the senior figures who pressured Vladimir Zelensky into dismissing his powerful chief of staff, Andrey Yermak over a spiraling corruption scandal, Ukrainskaya Pravda reported on Monday.
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RT reports: According to the outlet – which had previously described the behind-the-scenes effort to overthrow the Ukrainian leader’s right-hand man as a “revolution” – those involved feared that if informed, Yermak would retaliate by engineering treason charges against them.
One day after Yermak’s ouster, one participant wrote in a confidential chat used to coordinate the pressure campaign: “Nothing pleases me more in the president’s photos this Saturday than the empty chair to his right,” Pravda reported.
The group’s next objective, the outlet said, is to demonstrate that Ukraine can function without the centralized, highly personalized, allegedly corrupt management style Yermak had imposed on the government. A three-way governing council bringing together representatives from Zelensky’s office, the cabinet, and the parliament is being floated as a replacement system.
Yermak’s fall followed revelations from Western-backed anti-corruption investigators accusing businessman Timur Mindich, a longtime associate of Zelensky, of orchestrating a $100 million kickback scheme in the energy sector.
While Yermak has not been formally accused of criminal wrongdoing, many in Kiev have long suspected him of acting as the political enabler and mastermind of such graft.
The shake-up comes as Zelensky faces mounting external pressure, particularly from Washington, to accept concessions in negotiations aimed at ending the conflict with Russia. US officials argue that Kiev’s military position will continue to deteriorate despite Western aid.
Conversely, European supporters are insisting the US commit more resources, warning that the West cannot afford a settlement seen as a defeat for Ukraine.