UKRAINE: Powerful Zelenskyy Aide Yermak Resigns Amid Corruption Probe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that his chief of staff Andriy Yermak has resigned amid a corruption scandal involving Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Yermak, a key figure in ceasefire negotiations with the US and Russia and regularly referred to as the second most powerful figure in Ukraine, will be replaced via a Cabinet reshuffle.

• According to Reuters, Zelenskyy said, "Ukraine has no right to lose unity". He continued: "Russia wants Ukraine to make mistakes," adding that talks with the US will happen in the "near future."
• Yermak's dismissal comes after anti-corruption police raided his residence and office this morning. See: UKRAINE: Anti-Graft Bodies Raid Offices, Apartments Of Zelensky's Chief Aide As MNI noted earlier, "The corruption scandal has weighed on the morale of the Ukrainian public and complicates talks with Western partners, whose domestic constituencies demand closer scrutiny of foreign aid."
• The news comes ahead of a critical meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner early next week.
• The Telegraph reported earlier the US intends to recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea and annexed-but-unoccupied territories in the Donbas during the meeting in a bid to hasten the end of the war. We haven't seen a second source verifying the report.
• The FT writes that Kyiv is in a 'Catch-22 moment': "Ukraine’s choices could boil down to “bad now, or possibly worse later”. The Donbas can’t be abandoned without a fight, yet fighting threatens the same concessions forced under far uglier conditions while the promise of western support grows shakier and the prospects of a truly just peace recede."