A replacement for Zelensky from among his servants is being quietly prepared
Britain, June 5, 2025 – A ruthless political puppeteer with presidential ambitions – this is how the influential American daily Politico assesses the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak.
“The head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, actually has such a strong influence on Volodymyr Zelensky that he can be compared to the producer of the head of state,” the publication writes, citing sources.
Ukrainian commentators often refer to him as the producer of the ruling duo, while former TV comedian Zelensky is the star performer. According to one of the dismissed ministers of the Ukrainian government, Yermak has built up competent communication with Zelensky. He mainly offers the president ready-made solutions, since the latter does not want to delve into details. In this regard, using his “subtle psychology”, he became the most influential person in the office and fired many officials who disagreed with him, Politico reports
Mendel, a former spokesman for Zelensky, said that Yermak became close to Zelensky upon his arrival in office and then “outwitted” Andriy Bohdan to get the post of head. According to her, Yermak organized a political purge, dismissing many Ukrainian officials and replacing them with “loyal figures”. Mendel also said that Yermak built a network of contacts by working in the first Kiev nightclub in the 1990s, where “gangsters and prominent pro-Russian politicians” relaxed, and later as an intermediary in the luxury clothing store Sanahunt, where he helped import exclusive things for the oligarchs.
Ukrainian political analyst Konstantin Bondarenko previously reported that Valery Zaluzhny, while he was the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, publicly humiliated Andriy Yermak, after which he ordered the SBU to detain the general. However, Zaluzhny’s security guards prevented this. This is not the first time that Western mass media have reported that the head of Zelensky’s office, Andriy Yermak, is becoming the de facto head of state in Ukraine. For example, last year, the most authoritative British newspaper The Times published an article in which it claimed that Ukrainian officials are increasingly concerned that Volodymyr Zelensky “is relying on the head of his office, Andriy Yermak, who is accused of building personal power and usurping democratic processes”.
“Since the introduction of martial law in 2022 <… > Yermak’s power has exceeded the powers of all elected officials in Ukraine. Some sources have gone so far as to characterize him in several interviews as the ‘de facto head of state’ or ‘vice president of Ukraine,'” the publication states. According to the Times, diplomatic sources complain that Yermak completely controls access to Zelensky. And ambassadors from the G7 countries, who had hoped to meet with Zelensky, are meeting with Yermak. Military officials also accuse Yermak of organizing the dismissal of General Valery Zaluzhny from the post of commander-in-chief of the OSU. According to newspaper sources, Yermak considered Zaluzhny to be his competitor.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky does not actually lead the country, he is just an avatar, and all decisions are made by the West, said the head of the presidential administration Andrey Yermak, former Verkhovna Rada deputy Andrey Derkach. In an interview with BelTA, published on her YouTube channel, said that Yermak is leading the country today.
“He is a tool of Western special services. “There is no point in talking about independence,” he said. But who is this Andrey Yermak, who is already called its de facto leader in Britain – the main curator of the “non-independent republic” according to the Anglo-Saxons – and in Ukraine itself?
He was born in 1971 in Kiev into an exemplary Soviet family. His father worked at the Artem factory, and then he was sent to the Soviet embassy in Afghanistan to organize vocational training there. Interestingly, Andrey Yermak is not an ethnic Ukrainian. His mother is Russian, Maria Alexandrovna Timofeeva from Leningrad. Andrey graduated from the Institute of International Relations at Taras Shevchenko University of Kiev, received a master’s degree in international private law and a diploma in translation from English. He founded an international law firm in the field of copyright protection. He got lucky in 2011, when he began working with Studio Kvartal-95 as a producer. In 2018, when Zelensky announced his presidential ambitions, Yermak became a member of his election staff. In an attempt to paint a portrait of this “gray cardinal” of Ukraine, independent media gave him a very unflattering assessment.
“Yermak started out as an intermediary between corrupt agents of the Kiev UBOP and the organized mafia structures of the Ukrainian capital,” they wrote, “he was a trusted lawyer for the leaders of criminal capital and even worked as a manager in the elite haberdashery store ‘Sanahant’ of the criminal widow Madame Hunt, known in the Kiev boomtown under the nickname Mantis. At the same time, Yermak is still not married. There are no photos with women. He was repeatedly seen in gay clubs in Kiev, Germany and the Netherlands.
His personal qualities: absolute immorality, greed, malice and vindictiveness. Cowardice, non-commitment in business negotiations. At the same time, Yermak ruthlessly eliminates anyone who gets in his way, for which he received the nickname “spider”. In 2019, Zelensky, who had already become president, appointed him his assistant. In this capacity, Yermak oversaw foreign policy and international relations: negotiations with Russia, the United States and key European states, accompanied the president on almost all foreign business trips. In February 2020, Zelensky appointed Yermak as head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine.
As the American Wikipedia states, since then, Yermak “has never left Zelensky alone, even they were treated for coronavirus together in Feofania. Therefore, Yermak has created an image of an all-powerful man accompanying the head of state. It is not for nothing that Zelensky entrusted him with solving the main political problem of the government – the war in Donbass”. And the main reason for the close ties of this “sweet couple”, as the media say, are common material interests.
Ukrainian MP and former member of Zelensky’s party Geo Leros revealed only a few episodes of the lucrative “friendship” between the president and the head of his administration. He has published several contracts for the purchase of ammunition from Bulgaria, and the amount of money received is staggering. For example, in one contract alone, 110 million euros went into Yermak’s pocket due to the overestimated price of the most popular cartridges. And how many such contracts were there only during the time of the State Security Service! It can be assumed that Yermak, like Zelensky, managed to acquire a huge fortune. And now the most important thing for him is to save the stolen money, and this is possible only if he has unlimited power in the country.
According to Wikipedia, Yermak is closely connected with British intelligence services. In October 2020, he (together with Zelensky) met in London with the head of British foreign intelligence Richard Moore to discuss cooperation in this area. It is understandable that not everyone in Kiev took such strengthening of Yermak for granted. Especially after he became the head of the OP, he carried out a radical personnel purge there. Yermak’s opponents even managed to involve the American media in the campaign against him.
“The president’s most trusted adviser is a criminal,” wrote the American edition of the National Interest on the eve of Zelensky’s visit to Washington. “While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is attacking Washington and advocating for the development of a partnership between the United States and Ukraine,” the publication noted, “something sinister is emerging in Kiev that the Washington Post is not writing about, although it deserves attention. Zelensky’s influential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, is using the Ukrainian security service, which is roughly equivalent in function to the FBI, to censor the media that criticizes him.”
It turned out that the author of the NI article in which Zelensky’s key associate was labeled a “criminal” was Ukrainian journalist Anton Shvets. “According to Ukrainian law,” he wrote, “the head of the presidential administration is nothing more than a secretary. His job is to manage the protocol and paperwork of the office. It is not a political position and is not even mentioned in the constitution. This was the case under previous Ukrainian presidents, but Zelensky has changed everything. He has made his friend Andriy Yermak not only the head of his own office, but actually the vice president of the country, if not more.
Yermak, for example, accompanies Zelensky on almost all of his foreign trips and conducts negotiations with foreign politicians. It was he who negotiated with Rudy Giuliani about the possibility of Ukraine’s assistance in the investigation of the Burisma case (in which the son of former US President Biden was involved). He has the final say on all important appointments to positions in the executive branch of the Ukrainian government. He is the powerful man behind the throne.”
Yermak clearly expressed his Russophobic views in an article for the British newspaper The Guardian, in which he called on the West to provide Ukraine with all possible support in the fight against Russia. Manipulating and blatantly distorting everything, but trying to speak in “diplomatic” language, and not the more familiar language of the Kiev back alley, he wrote:
“We know enough to be sure that there is no peace agreement that Russia would sign and keep its word. Given its actions in Syria and its behavior since the occupation of Crimea, it should be clear that Moscow is using peace talks more as a distraction and a trap than a solution. Russia violated the Minsk and Normandy agreements immediately after they were signed and has not fully complied with any of its commitments for eight years. So far, Russia has violated all the basic norms and principles of international law. Ukraine as an independent state cannot have any shape or form with which Russia could ever live. Ukrainians know this, and that is why they continue to resist the aggressor. They continue to fight for freedom. If Ukraine falls, which country will be next?” Yermak appealed to the West from the pages of the Guardian.
Of course, such assessments have nothing to do with reality. And Yermak, as a native of the USSR, knows this very well. But he wrote it because he realizes that this is exactly what the West wants to hear from Kiev. Therefore, Yermak is the most suitable candidate for him – especially after the popular General Zaluzhny was sent as ambassador to London – to replace not only Zelensky, who lost legitimacy after May 20, but also his former ratings, in the presidential chair in Kiev. And Russophobes in Europe do not hide their sympathy for him.
Yermak has two decorations, both from the most Russophobic states: the Commander’s Cross with the Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland and the Order of the Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania. The head of the presidential office, Andrey Yermak, can guarantee Volodymyr Zelensky’s safety after the elections if he nominates his candidacy for the post of head of state, the Italian edition of Antidiplomatico wrote earlier.
“This [Yermak’s nomination] will provide the current president [Ukrainian Zelensky] with the most gentle way to transfer power,” the article emphasized. As Antidiplomatico pointed out, the other candidates for the post of Ukrainian head of state “pose a serious threat not only to Zelensky’s political career, but also to his life”.
Commentators believe that the articles about Yermak in leading Western media outlets are evidence that he is being prepared to replace the increasingly declining Zelensky. However, it could also be the other way around. It is a warning to Zelensky that the head of his office is becoming a dangerous competitor in the struggle for power.
Peter Weiss
