On 28 November 2025, Yermak resigned from his position as the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine after his home was raided by anti-corruption agents.[8][9]
Biography
Andriy Yermak was born on 21 November 1971 in Kyiv, Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union).[3] Yermak's Russian mother Maria met his Kyiv native father Borys on a school trip of a Leningrad school to Kyiv.[10] Yermak's father is Jewish.[11] They met through mutual acquaintances.[10] The couple married in 1971, and she moved to Kyiv.[10] Yermak has a brother Denys, who is eight years younger.[10]
In 1995, Yermak graduated from Kyiv's Taras Shevchenko National University's Institute of International Relations with a master's degree in international private law.[3][10] The same year he received his license for law practice.[3] In his second year of university, at the request of one of his professors, he started working for the "Proxen" law firm.[10]
In 1997, Yermak founded his own law firm and worked in the field of intellectual property and commercial law.[1] He also became a member of the Association of Lawyers of Ukraine during that time.[12] Between 2006 and 2014 he, in his profession as lawyer, aided Party of Regions MP Elbrus Tedeyev.[13][1] In 2009, he founded and headed the public organization "Association of Entrepreneurs of the City of Kyiv".[12] In the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, he was a proxy of candidate Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kyiv's 216th constituency.[10] In 2011 he became the head of the “Association of Small Business Owners”.[14]
Yermak became acquainted with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2011, when Zelenskyy was the general producer of the TV channel Inter.[13] The two became friends.[13] He worked in Zelenskyy's election campaign team in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.[10] On 21 May 2019, newly elected President Zelenskyy appointed Yermak as Presidential Aide for Foreign Policy Issues.[1] In this role he negotiated major prison exchanges with Russia during the war in Donbas.[17] He became the main point of contact between Ukraine and US President Trump's circle,[18] and was the point of contact for Kurt Volker and Rudy Giuliani on behalf of Zelenskyy during the buildup of the Trump–Ukraine scandal.[19] Yermak promised that, in response to their request, Zelensky would publicly pledge to investigate Burisma, a company that employed Hunter Biden. However, Zelenskyy never made such a public statement.[19]
Citing unnamed Ukrainian officials involved in military planning, the Financial Times reported that he was a major proponent of the defence of Bakhmut in 2022, against frontline commanders who urged a strategic retreat. On 20 December, Zelenskyy and Yermak made a risky visit to the Bakhmut frontline. By June 2023, Russian forces had captured Bakhmut following a major battle.[18]
In 2023, Politico called him Kyiv's "Green Cardinal", commanding both private and public arenas in his olive-colored combat fatigues.[6]
In 2024, the Financial Times wrote that he had a major influence on Ukraine's foreign relations and drafted peace plans, often acting with presidential authority, and stated "among Ukrainians, foreign leaders and diplomats, he is a person of immense and polarising influence." Detractors stated that Yermak was eroding democratic checks and balances.[18]Time named Yermak to their 2024 annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[7] In 2025, The Kyiv Independent reported that officials said Yermak was regarded unfavorably in EU and U.S. political circles, and that In Ukraine his reputation was even worse.[22]
In summer 2025, as anti-corruption watchdogs began targeting presidential insiders, Yermak and Zelenskyy's office supported legislation to place NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office under the politically appointed prosecutor general; the effort sparked the first major anti-government street protests since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022, and Zelenskyy reversed course amid EU pressure.[23] Two weeks before Yermak's dismissal, the anti-corruption agencies dismantled an alleged criminal organization involving current and former energy officials, government ministers, and a former deputy prime minister in a widening of the ongoing $100 million energy sector corruption scandal.[23]
On 28 November 2025, Yermak's apartment was raided by agents from NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, amid the ongoing Operation Midas.[9][24] Later that day, Zelenskyy dismissed Yermak as head of the presidential office.[25][23]
Personal life
Yermak has lived in Kyiv his whole life. He is single and has no children.[10]
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