The decree stated: “Remove A. Yermak from the composition of the National Security and Defense Council.” These decisions come a week after Yermak was dismissed on November 28, following a raid on his home by the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), as part of a wide-ranging corruption scandal that engulfed the country’s energy sector. November saw the eruption of one of the largest corruption cases in Ukraine’s history, as NABU uncovered a massive corruption scheme in the energy sector, involving Timur Mendych, one of Zelensky’s closest allies. Seven people were charged in the alleged criminal network, and Zelensky responded by imposing sanctions on Mendych and his prominent financier Oleksandr Tsukerman. The fallout from the scandal also included the arrest of former Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, and the dismissal of Energy Minister Svitlana Grynychuk and Justice Minister Herman Galushchenko, as part of a purge campaign that Kyiv says aims to tackle deeply entrenched corruption within state institutions.
