President Volodymyr Zelensky might fire Andriy Yermak, his close confidant and the head of the Presidential Office, as early as Thursday, according to lawmakers.
The reports – unsubstantiated at present – come as recent energy corruption scandals involving serving ministers have prompted opposition parties to call for the resignation of the entire government and the formation of a new parliamentary coalition.
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Local outlet Ukrainska Pravda, citing unnamed lawmakers from Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, said the president has appealed to his aides for a solution, to which most have offered that he sack Yermak.
“But it’s easier to count the people in our Rada who didn’t ask for his dismissal. It’s clear that there’s no direct blackmail, but if this doesn’t happen, the faction will collapse on its own,” one of the unnamed lawmakers told the outlet.
Opposition lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said on Tuesday that the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, is talking about sacking Yermak on Thursday.
“The Rada is talking about Zelensky firing Yermak on Thursday,” Honcharenko wrote, adding that Oksana Markarova, Kyiv’s former ambassador to the US, might be a potential replacement.
Sources also told Ukrainska Pravda that as Zelensky’s political crisis worsens, some of his party’s lawmakers have been offered the chance to jump ship to other parties.
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“The coalition is simply being torn apart. Many enemies have smelled blood when they have money. Our deputies are already being offered ‘cooperation.’ This could actually be the end of everything if there are no tough decisions from the president,” one of the lawmakers told the outlet.
On Monday, the opposition Holos party also demanded a “reboot” of the Presidential Office alongside the European Solidarity party led by former President Petro Poroshenko, who lost to Zelensky in the 2019 elections and was hit by Zelensky’s sanctions in February 2025.
Who is Yermak? Why is he targeted?
Yermak, and by extension the Presidential Office he heads, has long faced corruption allegations and criticism for its alleged lack of oversight and accountability.
Yermak himself refuted the allegations of power abuse, telling Politico in a June interview that accusations are “not true,” adding that his office “is not a separate vertical of power but a working tool of the president. Especially during wartime, when decisions must be made quickly and clearly.”
Yermak, a lawyer and former movie producer, is Zelensky’s close confidant who became the head of the Presidential Office, an agency reformed under Zelensky in 2019.
The agency has grown into one of the most influential within the executive branch, whose power, critics say, is not aligned with the Ukrainian Constitution.
As a result, Yermak has been a key figure in major political decisions and meetings, including as part of the Ukrainian delegation during the infamous Feb. 28 White House clash between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump.
In July, when the government attempted to curb the independence of anti-graft agencies, protesters also accused the Presidential Office of playing a role in that decision, though no direct link had been established between the agency and the decision.
Latest energy scandals
Ukraine’s anti-graft agencies have accused multiple high-ranking officials of participating in a kickback scheme in the energy sector, prompting the resignation of two ministers.
The case’s profile is heightened by Moscow’s renewed strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid.
The resigned ministers include Herman Halushchenko, Ukraine’s former energy minister who became the justice minister after the 2025 cabinet reshuffle, and Svitlana Hrynchuk, Halushchenko’s former aide who took over the energy minister position.
In addition, Zelensky’s former business associate, Timur Mindich, who was alleged to be a key figure in the scheme, fled the country shortly before the investigation was made public, further eroding confidence in the Zelensky administration.
While the president himself has not been implicated in the scandals and later imposed sanctions on Mindich and another businessman, opposition parties argue that the cases reflect poor governance and they are calling for the resignation of the entire cabinet – not just Halushchenko and Hrynchuk. They also link the issue to the Presidential Office, citing longstanding accusations that it wields undue influence over cabinet appointments.
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