Former Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak is not serving in the Ukrainian military and has not applied to enlist, despite publicly pledging to go to the front after leaving office, according to official documents released by a lawmaker.
On Thursday, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak published a formal response from the Ministry of Defense stating that Yermak is not listed in any military service records.
The document, signed by Deputy Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Yevhen Moisiuk, says Yermak has not contacted any Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers (TRCs) to seek service either through mobilization or a contract.
“We inform that as of the consideration of the parliamentary inquiry, Ukrainian citizen Andriy Borysovych Yermak has not applied to any TRCs regarding a desire to perform military service,” the ministry said.
Yermak told the New York Post in late November 2024, shortly after his resignation, that he planned to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
Zhelezniak confirmed that rumors of Yermak serving in other security agencies were false. Media reports claiming he was at Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) facilities were denied after official checks.
Claims that Yermak could be serving in the Ground Forces were also dismissed. Journalists from Slidstvo.Info cited an official response confirming that Yermak is not listed in any Ground Forces units.
Zhelezniak stressed that since Yermak no longer holds a position in the Presidential Office, he has lost the right to a mobilization deferment and, as a man of conscription age, is subject to general military obligations.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Yermak’s resignation on Nov. 28, 2025. A presidential decree followed amid searches by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) at Yermak’s residence as part of Operation “Midas,” an investigation into alleged embezzlement at state nuclear agency Energoatom.
On Jan. 2, 2026, Zelensky tapped military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov to lead the Presidential Office. The same day, Oleh Ivashchenko, previously head of the SZRU, was appointed to replace Budanov as chief of the Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR).