Ukraine’s anti-corruption court has ordered the detention of former presidential office chief Andriy Yermak, setting bail at 140 million hryvnias, as rescue teams in Kyiv continued searching the ruins of a residential building hit in a Russian attack.
A morning already marked by the consequences of Russia’s latest attack on Kyiv took on a second political dimension on Thursday, as Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ordered the detention of Andriy Yermak, the former head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office and once one of the most powerful figures in the country’s wartime administration.
The court ordered Yermak to be held for 60 days, while setting bail at 140 million hryvnias, roughly $3.2 million. The decision followed a request from anti-corruption prosecutors in a money-laundering investigation linked to an upscale construction project near Kyiv known as “Dynasty”. Yermak has denied wrongdoing and told reporters after the ruling that he did not have the money personally and that his lawyers would work with friends and acquaintances on the bail issue. Reuters reported that the case forms part of the wider “Operation Midas” investigation.
Former Zelenskyy Aide Andriy Yermak Named Suspect in ‘Dynasty’ Money-Laundering Case
The case forms part of a wider investigation associated with “Operation Midas”, a high-profile corruption probe involving alleged illicit proceeds and luxury real estate. Investigators allege that hundreds of millions of hryvnias were laundered through the construction project. Other figures linked to the broader investigation include Timur Mindich, a former business associate of Zelenskyy, and former deputy prime minister Oleksiy Chernyshov. Those named in the case have denied wrongdoing.
The timing of the court decision gave the day a stark contrast. While the court proceedings were unfolding, emergency services in Kyiv were continuing rescue work in the Darnytskyi district after a Russian strike damaged a residential high-rise. Local reports said several people had been killed and that search operations under the rubble were continuing. The number of confirmed dead rose through the day as rescuers worked at the scene.
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The court hearing also produced details that have attracted public attention beyond the money-laundering allegations. Prosecutors alleged that Yermak had consulted a contact saved as “Veronika Feng Shui Office” in relation to senior appointments. According to the prosecution, birth dates of candidates were sent to this contact before some appointments were made. Ukrainian investigative project Schemes identified the woman as Veronika Anikievych, a Kyiv resident who describes herself as an astrology consultant. Yermak denied consulting fortune-tellers on government appointments.
The allegations have raised questions about informal decision-making inside the Ukrainian presidential administration during the most difficult period of Russia’s full-scale war. Yermak served as head of the president’s office from 2020 until 2025 and played a central role in domestic political management, international contacts and negotiations. His proximity to Zelenskyy made him a frequent subject of criticism from opposition politicians, civil society groups and some former officials, who argued that too much authority had been concentrated in the presidential office.
The investigation is also sensitive for Ukraine’s relations with its Western partners. Kyiv has sought to present anti-corruption reform as part of its European integration process, while maintaining that independent institutions are able to investigate senior figures. The fact that the case has reached a former head of the president’s office may be used by the authorities to show that anti-corruption bodies are functioning. At the same time, the allegations risk reinforcing concerns about wartime governance, informal influence and the vulnerability of state institutions to private networks.
In a separate but politically connected development, Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi District Court on Wednesday found Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, guilty in a long-running case concerning a 2017 incident involving pro-Russian blogger Vsevolod Filimonenko. The court recognised Filimonenko as a journalist and found Shabunin guilty of causing medium-gravity bodily harm to a journalist, but imposed no punishment because the limitation period had expired. Shabunin’s defence said it would appeal, according to the Institute of Mass Information.
Shabunin and his organisation have long argued that the case was politically motivated and that Filimonenko should not have been treated as a journalist. Ukrainian reporting noted that Filimonenko was sanctioned in Ukraine in 2025 over pro-Russian propaganda activity and had appeared in Russian television material aimed at discrediting Ukraine’s armed forces. The court, however, accepted the prosecution’s position in the criminal case.
Taken together, the two court developments underline the unresolved tension at the centre of Ukraine’s wartime politics: the country is fighting an external war while also being forced to confront internal questions of accountability, political influence and the integrity of state institutions. For Zelenskyy, the immediate political issue is how his administration responds. A clear institutional response could support the argument that Ukraine’s anti-corruption system remains operational even under wartime conditions. Any attempt to minimise, obstruct or politicise the proceedings would carry risks both domestically and internationally.
For now, Yermak remains a suspect who denies the allegations against him. The court has not determined guilt, and the case will continue through the legal process. But the arrest of a man once regarded as one of the most influential officials in Ukraine is already a significant political event. It comes at a moment when the country is still absorbing the human cost of Russian attacks and when public trust in wartime leadership remains a central element of national resilience.
