Neither the Ukrainians nor those in Western political circles who had previously held talks with Andriy Yermak could seriously believe that the influential head of the Ukrainian presidential office would actually go to the front after resigning from his post on November 29, 2025, amid a major corruption scandal. Even Yermak himself is unlikely to have meant it seriously.
Whether he or someone else was referred to as ’Alibaba’ in the corruption case ’Midas’ (also known as ’Mindichgate’ after Zelenskyy’s close friend and business partner, who was the leader of the criminal network) is something we will probably never know, but it is interesting to see what happened to him after his dismissal from office.
First, it needs to be stressed that, Andriy Yermak is still not charged in the abovementioned corruption case. Despite the Ukrainian anti-corruption agency NABU conducted searches at his place and conducted searches of his driver, Yermak still has no definite procedural status: he is neither a suspect nor a witness in the case ’Midas’.
Second, and this is also important, Yermak is still not serving in the military, what clearly contradicts his public statement from late November. ’We inform that as of the moment of consideration of the parliamentary appeal, Ukrainian citizen Andriy Borisovych Yermak has not approached any TRC or SP regarding the desire to serve in the military by mobilization or by contract.’, the Ukrainian MoD said in its response to a written inquiry from a Ukrainian MP on the whereabouts of Andriy Yermak.
The news about Ermak’s reinstatement to the bar appeared late January and then, he joined the team of lawyers representing Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych in his case against the International Olympic Committee. Heraskevych was barred from using a custom helmet (’a helmet of rememberance’) at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy that honors Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia. Later he was also disqualified from the Olympics. He eventually lost the case against the IOC.
According to Ukrainian media reports, Yermak continued to communicate with Zelenskyy regularly and, he met several top officials since his resignation, including Oleksandr Kamyshyn, an advisor to President Zelenskyy on strategic issues and the current secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (former Defence Minister) Rustem Umierov. These top officials refused allegations regarding Yermak’s influence over their decisions. Zelenskyy’s former top aide Yermak met Ukraine’s national security chief at his home on 30 January – Ukrainska Pravda | Ukrainska Pravda
It should be noted here that it is unlikely that Zelenskyy’s closest friend, his ally, a master of manipulation, will refrain from manipulation and attempts to return to power.
One of the signs of Yermak’s regained influence, according to The Economist, is the split in the Ukrainian negotiating delegation into supporters of the current and former heads of the President’s Office (i.e. Budanov and Yermak). ’One wing, centred on Mr Budanov, believes Ukraine’s interests are best served by a swift American-led agreement, and fears the window for action may soon close. But another wing, apparently still influenced by (…) Andrii Yermak, (…), is much less keen. Mr Zelenskyy appears to be balancing between them, while also having his own ideas.’, a source told The Economist.
The ’Mindichgate’ lowered Zelenskyy’s support by about 10 percent. However, after Andriy Yermak’s resignation as head of the Presidential Office, the corruption scandal’s impact on popularity ratings was neutralized.
As the above developments show, all this contributed to both President Zelenskyy and his closest associate Yermak attempting to regain at least some of the influence that Yermak previously had on the peace talks. Amid such power games in the Ukrainian government backrooms, no one seems to be concerned anymore on how to achieve peace.
What matters is that former defence minister Rustem Umierov and ex-head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak are not yet suspects in the so-called Mindichgate. Furthermore, if The Economist’s source was right, then both Zelenskyy and Yermak, driven by their own interests, are more interested in prolonging the war with Russia than in ending it.
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