The circle around Andriy Yermak, who until now served as the gray eminence of the Ukrainian president's administration, Volodimir Zelenski, began to tighten this week after lawmakers and presidential advisors called for his dismissal to curb the monumental political scandal generated by the corruption case in the energy sector being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Zelenski was already forced to dismiss two of his ministers, Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk and Justice Minister Herman Galushchenko, last week amid a tsunami of revelations that implicate many individuals close to his inner circle in this case.
Yermak, head of the presidential office, has been accused by opposition politicians of building a problematic network of influences and interests, at the very least. In January of last year, when asked about it by this newspaper, the Ukrainian leader responded: "Ukraine is a democratic country, and we are very happy to be able to listen to diverse opinions. We have fought precisely for that in two revolutions. It is part of our values. But we must look at the facts. Zelenski came to power rejecting many things that others had accepted. His only goal was to reform the country. The European Commission itself has recognized Ukraine's fight against corruption. But reforms are difficult, especially in the midst of this tragedy that is the war."
Fedir Venislavskyi, one of the lawmakers from the same political party as Zelenski, Servant of the People, acknowledged on Tuesday that his colleagues discussed the possibility of parting ways with Yermak that day, and "quite a few" are in favor. "There has been much talk that Yermak should resign, but the decision lies with the president," he said in an interview.
According to local media reports, the head of state met with his closest allies before his trip to Spain, including Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Federov, and the head of the intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov. Most, as reported by Ukrainian publications, also recommended that Yermak be dismissed.
According to Pravda Ukraine, within the "Servant of the People" party, a group of lawmakers has formed that "threatened to leave" the group if measures are not taken against Yermak. "The faction will collapse," the same media outlet wrote in its analysis.
The political event has also widened the cracks observed in the unity that various formations in the country maintained for months. Numerous opposition figures have been reproaching Zelenski's behavior for several months, accusing him of adopting an increasingly authoritarian style.
The findings of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) have exacerbated the personal confrontation between the president and his predecessor, former President Petro Poroshenko, who is subject to a long list of sanctions promoted by the president's party, accusing him of "treason," an accusation that Poroshenko considers a mere political ploy by his rival. The main leader of the Ukrainian opposition, Poroshenko, stood in the local Parliament on Tuesday with several of his lawmakers demanding the collective resignation of the government and blocking the chamber's action.
The so-called Operation Midas has triggered a political earthquake in Ukraine amid the precarious war situation it faces in its confrontation with Russia, which continues to advance on most fronts in the east of the country.
This Wednesday, Russian aviation launched a new wave of missile and drone attacks that hit a long list of cities in the country, from Kharkiv - where the incident left dozens injured and significant damage - to Ternopil - where at least nine people died - Burshtin, or Lviv. The state electricity company, Ukrenergo, explained on social media that it was yet another attack on such facilities, including the plant near the aforementioned town of Burshtin.
Precisely, the combination of the repeated power outages that Ukrainians have been experiencing for weeks and the information about the commissions that members of the network identified by Nabu required to carry out works to protect the electrical grid have fueled collective outrage.
The leakage to local media of images of huge packages with bundles of $100 bills or the opulence in which the accused lived - one of them, Timur Mindich, had toilets partially covered in gold - has generated an unprecedented social frenzy in the over three years since Moscow launched its general invasion.
Headlines like "How the president's friends stole from the country during the war" reflect the popular weariness that has fueled the situation, representing the biggest threat to Zelenski's continuity since he came to power.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (Sapo) have charged eight suspects with bribery, embezzlement, and illicit enrichment. This Tuesday, the judiciary ordered the detention of former Deputy Prime Minister, Oleksiy Chernyshov, unless he pays a hefty bail.
Chernyshov, a close associate of Zelenski and his wife, was part of the structure that, according to Sapo, was led by the aforementioned Timur Mindich, another close collaborator of the president from the time when he was involved in comedy. Mindich managed to flee Ukraine to Israel - he is a citizen of that country - hours before the police arrived at his home, leading Ukrainian media to speculate on the possibility that he had been warned of the action.
"The facts declassified by the anti-corruption authorities indicate that Timur Mindich is just the tip of the corruption iceberg," wrote Ucrania Pravda days ago.
The individuals involved used aliases as if they were part of a mafia. Timur Mindich was nicknamed "Carlson," and Chernyshov was "Che Guevara." Another alias used, Ali Baba, has already sparked a wave of memes on social media that continue to talk about the character and all the "thieves" accompanying him. In one of the known conversations, one of them complains of "back pain" from their repeated trips carrying bags full of money.
On the 11th of last month, as leaks about the official investigation increased, the Secretary of the National Security Council and former Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, also left the country to visit Turkey and has not yet returned. According to the official, it is a "business trip."
The investigation has extended to sectors such as the Ministry of Defense or the institutions responsible for the investigation.
The extensive documentation collected by the investigators has brought back familiar figures from the Ukrainian public opinion, such as Andrii Derkach, a former deputy who switched sides to Russia - he is now a senator in the enemy country - and who once headed the main local electricity production company, Energoatom, which is now at the center of the corruption case.
According to a statement released by Nabu on the 10th of last month, Mindich had established a whole corruption network around Energoatom that pocketed between 10 and 15% of any contract signed by that company. "We have documented in 15 months of work and 1,000 hours of recordings the activity of a high-level criminal organization," the statement read. Experts estimate that nearly $100 million was embezzled.
Mindich "controlled the operation of the so-called 'laundry,' where funds obtained illegally were laundered," reported the official agents.
Last July, thousands of people gathered in the streets of different Ukrainian cities to protest Zelenski's attempt to curb the independence of Nabu and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, a controversial initiative that had to be revoked due to popular mobilization and is now seen as a failed attempt to halt the current investigation.
One of Nabu's investigators, Ruslan Magamedrasulov, explained to the Suspiline agency this Wednesday that the Ukrainian intelligence service had detained him in July to prevent his investigations.
Local observers have warned about the negative influence that this issue is having on Western support for Ukraine and the opportunities that Russia may seize with its usual disinformation campaigns.
"If everything that the detectives of Nabu have uncovered is true, it will undoubtedly negatively affect support for Ukraine in many aspects," admitted the diplomat and former ambassador to the US, Oleh Shamshur, in statements to a local media outlet. "This represents a serious stain on the president and his team. What is at stake is not the fate of Zelensky and his team, but the fate of Ukraine and Europe," he added.
According to the Carnegie think tank, the only advantage of the current head of state is precisely that the country is facing Russian invasion. "In times of peace, a scandal of this kind would likely have sparked massive protests, the resignation of the government, and probably early elections," wrote Konstantin Skorkin in a recent analysis by this institution.