Ukraine’s predominant power broker has fallen so far from grace that even his own fortuneteller couldn’t have seen it coming.
This gray cardinal, Andriy Yermak, was until late last year the second most powerful person in the country. An old friend of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s, Mr. Yermak spent nearly six years as the leader’s chief of staff, incurring disdain from critics who accused him of using Russia’s invasion to consolidate power in his unelected position and meddle in nearly all aspects of the war.
Then, in November, Mr. Yermak abruptly resigned after his home and office were raided as part of a sweeping corruption investigation that has engulfed several members of Mr. Zelensky’s inner circle. Mr. Zelensky swiftly distanced himself publicly from his closest confidant. And the once omnipresent Mr. Yermak proclaimed his own innocence but effectively disappeared from public life.
But corruption cases have a way of trailing Ukrainian presidents. Just as Mr. Zelensky had been starting to find his stride, with momentum in the war and redoubled support from European allies, Mr. Yermak has come roaring back onto the scene, reviving a political headache for his onetime boss.
Last month, Mr. Yermak was arrested and thrown in jail, accused of laundering millions of dollars through a luxury housing development outside Kyiv, the capital. While Mr. Zelensky has so far weathered the corruption investigation and its monthslong fallout, the details of the allegations against Mr. Yermak, 54, have been too bizarre for the public to ignore.
In court, prosecutors alleged that Mr. Yermak had regularly consulted with an astrologer to make critical political decisions, including appointments of top officials. In his phone, Mr. Yermak had listed the woman’s contact information under “Veronika Feng Shui Office,” prosecutors said.
Outraged lawmakers responded by introducing legislation to ban occult services. They even summoned the fortuneteller, Veronika Anikievych, to testify before a parliamentary commission, although she has not yet appeared. Ms. Anikievych, who also goes by Veronika Danylenko, took to Facebook to defend Mr. Yermak, saying the case was “beneficial to those who want to overthrow Zelensky.”
The corruption investigation began with allegations of vast theft from Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear power giant and expanded to claims that Mr. Yermak laundered money through the luxury development. He has categorically denied both the graft allegations and the claims that he consulted with a fortuneteller.
But the harsh reality of his political downfall was made even more evident when he recently went cap in hand to crowdfund bail money from various supporters. It took him several days to raise $3.5 million from about 300 people and entities, according to Ukrainian media.
Mr. Yermak now wears an ankle bracelet and has been barred from leaving Kyiv without direct permission from investigators. He told The New York Times in a phone call last week, however, that he was on his way to the front line to support Ukrainian troops.
He could not answer further questions by phone, he said, blaming a poor connection. He delegated a series of written questions, including one asking who had approved his travel to the front, to his lawyer, Ihor Fomin.
In a written statement, Mr. Fomin said Mr. Yermak was abiding by pretrial conditions and continued his work offering legal aid to people affected by the war. “Any activity undertaken in this capacity, including any travel in connection with that work, is carried out in accordance with the applicable procedural framework,” Mr. Fomin wrote.
Mr. Yermak’s ordeal could, perhaps, be cast aside as a surreal sideshow for a country simultaneously engaged in a bloody war for national survival with a nuclear-armed neighbor.
But it adds political pressure on Mr. Zelensky, who only recently regained his footing after a tumultuous year that included not just the corruption scandal, but also battlefield failures and a push from Washington to end the war at nearly any cost.
While Ukraine’s anticorruption agencies have not directly implicated Mr. Zelensky in the case, questions remain about how he could not have been aware of corruption among close friends and aides. To complicate matters, in leaks describing the luxury development outside Kyiv, one mansion was designated for “Vova,” a nickname for Volodymyr, which is a common name in Ukraine. It remains unclear who this Vova is.
“The Yermak case and other anticorruption investigations involving individuals who were previously part of President Zelensky’s inner circle are becoming a ticking time bomb,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, a Ukrainian political analyst. “The only question is when it will explode and what damage it could cause to the president.”
The solidarity behind Mr. Zelensky is less a personal endorsement and more a reflection of a consensus that any cracks in national unity would embolden Russia, said a former Ukrainian official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal politics.
Street protests last summer in response to a push by Mr. Zelensky to neuter anticorruption agencies showed the strength of Ukrainian society, the official said, adding that Ukrainians would not forget about the corruption scandal once elections were held again. Mr. Zelensky’s term technically expired in 2024, but Ukraine’s Constitution bars holding elections while the country is under martial law.
Mykola Bielieskov, a political analyst, said there was “a balancing act that most Ukrainians do in their mind.”
“People want justice for sure,” he added, “but in a way that doesn’t undermine Zelensky as supreme commander in chief and chief diplomat in an existential war.”
Some see positives for Ukraine in the Yermak arrest. Instead of discrediting the country’s anticorruption efforts, which are essential to its urgent campaign to join the European Union, Mr. Yermak’s case has in some ways bolstered Ukraine’s credibility, according to political analysts, lawmakers and diplomats.
The investigation, they said, demonstrated the country’s commitment to the rule of law and the continued independence of Ukraine’s anticorruption bodies.
“It’s a good thing, because you cannot imagine anything like that happening in Russia or any authoritarian country,” a Ukrainian lawmaker, Oleksandr Merezhko, said of Mr. Yermak’s arrest.
“If you don’t fight corruption,” added Mr. Merezhko, who belongs to Mr. Zelensky’s party and serves as chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, “you don’t have such scandals. It means the organism of society is alive.”
The timing of Mr. Yermak’s arrest has certainly been on Mr. Zelensky’s side. The Ukrainian leader has appeared more confident as the country’s military has conducted major drone strikes on oil infrastructure deep inside Russia. As the war in Iran has diverted attention from Ukraine, Mr. Zelensky has regained the spotlight by offering Ukrainian expertise to Persian Gulf countries to help ward off Iranian attacks.
An election in Hungary unseated Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Ukraine’s staunchest adversary in the European Union. A devastating winter in which much of Kyiv survived without electricity or heat gave way to spring. And even as Russia has bombarded Kyiv in recent weeks, killing dozens, Ukraine has managed to maintain relative stability on the front line.
Ukrainian society appears much less focused on Veronika Feng Shui Office than on the nonstop threat of new Russian strikes on Kyiv and on growing concerns that Ukraine is running out of interceptors to stop Russian ballistic missiles.
Still, the story of Mr. Yermak is not over. He will eventually return to court for more hearings. His fortuneteller may yet appear before lawmakers. And questions will continue to emerge over how much contact, if any, he maintains with his old friend Mr. Zelensky.
Liubov Sholudko and Evelina Riabenko contributed reporting.
