By Dan Peleschuk and Yuliia Dysa
KYIV, May 12 (Reuters) – After years in which Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s wartime reputation withstood corruption allegations that swirled around his associates, the Ukrainian leader now faces a far bigger test: graft charges that have reached his own former right-hand man.
Zelenskiy has not been named in a sprawling investigation which has roiled Ukraine since last November, but a new accusation against his former chief of staff Andriy Yermak is the deepest that anti-corruption authorities have burrowed into the president’s inner circle.
Yermak, 54, a burly one-time film producer who helped mastermind Zelenskiy’s improbable rise from playing the president in a TV sitcom to leading a nation at war, was photographed for years at Zelenskiy’s side, towering over his boss like an older brother.
He was named an official suspect late on Monday in an alleged $10.5 million money-laundering scheme centered on an elite housing development outside Kyiv.
In comments to Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, his lawyer described the charges as groundless.
Ukraine’s anti-corruption court is reviewing a request by prosecutors to hold Yermak on $4 million bail.
Zelenskiy has not personally commented on the charges against his old friend, and his communications advisor said on Monday it was too early to discuss it. The president’s office did not respond to detailed questions for this story.
Charges against Yermak are not likely to pose an immediate threat to Zelenskiy, but could lead to longer-term reputational damage if he runs for re-election after the war, said Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst at the Penta think tank.
“This entire affair is a delay-action mine for President Zelenskiy that may not explode now, but later,” he said.
WIDE-RANGING PROBE
The new charges by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) are part of a wide-ranging operation dubbed “Midas” that has gripped Ukraine, where anti-graft agencies have stepped up their wartime efforts.
Last year’s revelations of an alleged $100 million kickback scheme in the energy sector – led by a former Zelenskiy business partner from his media days, Timur Mindich – sparked anger at a time when Russia was attacking Ukraine’s power grid.
That led to a political reshuffle in which Yermak resigned in November. Mindich fled to Israel and denies wrongdoing.
The scandal resurfaced in recent weeks when Ukrainian media and opposition lawmakers leaked what they described as transcripts from a wiretap of Mindich.
Reuters could not independently verify the transcripts, which purported to include Mindich discussing a top Ukrainian drone manufacturer with national security chief Rustem Umerov. A spokesperson for Umerov denied wrongdoing. Ukraine’s top anti-graft prosecutor said on Tuesday that Umerov had been a witness in the “Midas” operation.
In another fragment of the transcripts, Mindich and an unidentified woman are purportedly heard discussing property, as well as people named “Andriy” and “Vova” – the latter an informal short form of the name “Volodymyr”.
“This is now something that Zelenskiy himself, personally, cannot ignore,” said opposition lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko.
NABU chief Semen Kryvonos told reporters on Tuesday that Zelenskiy has not been a subject of any probes. A sitting president cannot legally be investigated.
CHARGES COME AT A SENSITIVE TIME
The latest charges come with Ukraine still dependent on critical western financial aid – contingent partly on anti-corruption reforms. A U.S.-backed peace push has stalled in the fifth year of war with Russia.
Some lawmakers including members of Zelenskiy’s ruling Servant of the People party see a silver lining, with the case against Yermak serving as an encouraging sign of Ukraine’s drive to fight graft.
“Partners see that Ukraine has an independent anti-corruption system that is performing its function,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the parliamentary foreign-affairs committee.
Zelenskiy’s public approval has remained relatively stable in recent months despite the heightened focus on corruption, with around 58% of Ukrainians trusting the president, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology said on May 4.
In a May 6 poll, however, it found that 54% believe corruption is a greater threat to Ukraine’s development than Russia’s war, when given an option between the two.
Ukrainians interviewed by Reuters in Kyiv on Tuesday reacted with a mix of caution and unease.
“Clearly the president is involved, because it can’t be that people near him were in very close contact and he didn’t know anything about what they were doing,” said Valentyna Nevoyt, 70.
Natalia Chernilevska, a 53-year-old currency exchanger, said there was a risk that Zelenskiy could become personally ensnared, but that she still prized his wartime leadership.
“For me, Zelenskiy is an example of a good leader of the country who is fighting to the end.”
(Additional reporting by Yuri Kovalenko)
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