Russia-Ukraine War — 2026-05-11

Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Bureau Charges Former Zelensky Chief of Staff Yermak

NABU and SAPO on May 11 served Andriy Yermak, former head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, with a notice of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code, charging money laundering of criminally obtained property. The agencies identified Yermak, designated "R-2" in NABU materials, as a member of an organized group that laundered approximately 460 million hryvnias through the "Dynasty" luxury residential project outside Kyiv between 2021 and 2025. NABU reported the laundered funds derived in part from corruption schemes at state nuclear operator Energoatom. The High Anti-Corruption Court has approved seizure of the project's land plots and five unfinished structures; urgent investigative actions remain ongoing.

Analysis
The "R-2" designation transforms Yermak from scandal-adjacent to a named participant in a structured criminal enterprise, foreclosing his managed-exit narrative. Placing him below Mindich ("Carlson"), now a fugitive, positions Yermak as a potentially cooperatable defendant rather than the primary target. Court-approved seizures, corroborated across NABU releases and independent Ukrainian outlets, pre-empt asset-shielding NABU documented as already underway. An arrest warrant or trial date within six months is unlikely: historical stalls in preliminary hearings, Mindich's absence from domestic custody, and Yermak's legal resources each slow the timeline. The charges arriving nearly six months after initial Energoatom searches may reflect political calculation to neutralize residual influence rather than investigative momentum alone.

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