Editor's note: This story is being updated.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said on Nov. 28 that it was conducting searches at the premises of President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak.
Yermak is being investigated by the NABU in a corruption case involving state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom, the biggest corruption investigation during Zelensky's presidency. Eight suspects have been charged in the Energoatom case, and Timur Mindich, a close associate of the president, is allegedly the ringleader.
"Today, the NABU and SAPO are indeed carrying out procedural actions at my home," Yermak wrote on Telegram. "The investigators are facing no obstacles. They have been given full access to the apartment, and my lawyers are present on site and are cooperating with law enforcement. I am providing full cooperation on my part."
Ukrainian media outlet Dzerkalo Tyzhnia reported, citing its sources, that Yermak's office on Bankova Street in Kyiv and his apartment were being searched.
Yermak has faced calls to resign but Zelensky has refused to fire him and has appointed him to lead in peace negotiations instead.
One of the luxury houses near Kyiv financed through the Energoatom corruption scheme was meant for Yermak, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent. The President's Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Media outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported on Nov. 24, citing law enforcement sources, that Yermak is implicated in the corruption scandal, and investigators refer to him as "Ali Baba."
Ukraine's chief anti-corruption prosecutor Oleksandr Klymenko said earlier in November that, according to investigators, "Ali Baba is holding meetings and assigning tasks to law enforcement agencies to ensure they persecute NABU detectives and anti-corruption prosecutors."
A lawmaker from Zelensky's Servant of the People party said that "there hasn't really been much of a reaction" in the party so far.
"Most people seemed to understand everything already," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Kyiv Independent. "For the most part, there's silence. Only a few individuals have taken note of recent events. Some might be in shock."
The lawmaker also said that "some may have hoped there would be no further fallout, thinking that his appointment as head of the peace delegation meant the end of the story."
"But it turns out that this is only the beginning," he added.
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