Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been without a chief of staff for more than a week. His former right-hand man, Andriy Yermak, resigned on November 28, hours after anti-corruption agents raided his apartment in Kyiv. The investigators were looking into a $100-million kickback scheme in Ukraine’s energy sector that has already cost several high-level officials their posts.

The timing of the biggest political scandal of Zelensky’s presidency couldn’t have been worse: news of the scheme broke just as the Trump administration pushed ahead with another round of talks to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. Among his many other roles, Yermak was Ukraine’s lead peace negotiator.

To put this enormous shake-up into context, Meduza senior news editor Sam Breazeale spoke to journalist Simon Shuster. A Ukraine expert and staff writer at The Atlantic, Shuster interviewed Yermak the day before his resignation. He also enjoyed extensive access to Zelensky and his circle while writing his 2024 biography The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky. Originally published in English, The Showman is now also available in Russian from Meduza’s own publishing house.

Timestamps for this episode:

(1:39) The Zelensky administration without Yermak
(5:40) The role of martial law
(9:09) Negotiations and peace talks
(22:57) Zelensky’s transformation and future
(29:59) The governance challenges of wartime corruption

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Simon Shuster on the fall of Andriy Yermak