The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) have filed an indictment against Andriy Yermak, the former chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the Ukrainian judicial system, this step corresponds to the initiation of court proceedings.
Yermak is charged with money laundering within an organized criminal group, which carries a prison sentence of 8 to 12 years.
According to anti-corruption authorities, the group to which Yermak belonged laundered 460 million hryvnias (about 9 million euros) at a luxury housing project near Kyiv. Six more people were later charged in the case.
"This is a particularly serious crime. We are currently collecting evidence," SAP chief Oleksandr Klimenko told a news conference in Kyiv. The hearing began on May 12.
The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine ordered pre-trial detention for an initial period of 60 days. Andriy Yermak, however, has the option of remaining free on bail of 140 million hryvnias (about 2,7 million euros). “I don’t have that much money,” Yermak told reporters after the court’s decision.
What is Andrij Yermak charged with?
According to the investigation, it all started in 2018 when one of the defendants, judging by the video footage released by NABU, became a co-founder of BLOOM Development. This company purchased more than four hectares of land near Kiev in the summer of 2019, and in 2021 began construction there of a luxury residential complex called "Dynasty".
Investigators suspect that the construction site was used extensively to launder illegally obtained money into legal economic channels. The criminal group allegedly obtained the money from various sources, including corruption schemes at the state-owned concern Energoatom.
This group was led by a man codenamed “Karlson.” According to reports, behind this name is businessman Timur Mindich, who is considered a close associate and loyal friend of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mindich is, among other things, a co-owner of the TV production company “Kvartal 95,” among whose founders Zelensky himself is one.
Andriy Yermak is also suspected of belonging to this group. In connection with the current proceedings, NABU searched Yermak's office and private apartment in November 2025. Although there were still no criminal suspicions against him at that time, he resigned from his position as head of the presidential administration, which he had held since 2020.
Andriy Yermak denies that he owns a house in the “Dynasty” residential complex and calls the accusations unfounded. “Over the past months, public pressure has been exerted on law enforcement agencies to launch an investigation against me,” Yermak wrote on Telegram on the evening of May 12. At the same time, he stated that he would remain in Ukraine and that he was open to all investigative actions.
Will the Yermak case damage Zelensky's reputation?
Andriy Yermak was very close to the Ukrainian president, and journalists have already raised suspicions that one of the houses in the aforementioned complex could belong to Volodymyr Zelensky himself through intermediaries. However, NABU and SAP have denied these reports.
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not and is not the subject of an investigation by NABU and SAP," NABU head Semen Krivonos said at a press conference on May 12.
According to observers, this case could still damage Zelensky's reputation. Ukrainian political scientist Petro Oleshchuk believes that this procedure will have fewer direct consequences, but that in the long term it will represent a constant burden for the current state leadership.
"Mindic-gate will keep reappearing and will not just disappear. It remains a contributing factor in the perception of the president's work," Oleschuk told DW.
According to him, both Zelensky's domestic political opponents and external actors could be interested in maintaining public attention on this corruption case.
Danger – when the war ends
In addition, Oleschuk does not rule out the possibility that the Ukrainian leadership could be pressured using this information to impose scenarios for ending the war that are unfavorable for Ukraine.
Ukrainian political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko also sees risks to Zelensky's reputation, but primarily in the future, although certain losses in support percentages are possible even now.
"As long as Zelensky is the president of Ukraine, he enjoys immunity. That is why, unlike Yermak, he cannot be investigated," Fesenko explained to DW.
In his opinion, the greatest danger for Zelenskyy comes when the war ends and the election campaign begins. "Then all the compromising material related to this case and Mindich-gate in general could be used against Volodymyr Zelenskyy," says Fesenko.
Zelensky himself has not commented on the matter so far. His communications advisor Dmytro Litvin told reporters that the investigation is still ongoing, and that it is therefore too early to make any assessments.
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