Ukrainian court eases restrictions on Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court has eased the restrictive measures imposed on Andriy Yermak, former head of the Office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to TASS.

“Today, the High Anti-Corruption Court, following a motion from the defence, expanded the territory within which Andriy Yermak may move without separate permits,” Yermak’s lawyers said in a Telegram post.

They noted that this primarily concerns regions “where the committee of the National Bar Association of Ukraine (UNBA), headed by Yermak, operates.”

However, the court maintained the requirement for Yermak to wear an electronic monitoring device.

According to his lawyers, “during the nearly three months that the restrictive measure has been in effect, Yermak has fulfilled all the obligations imposed on him: he appeared for every summons, complied with all restrictions, and committed no action that could be interpreted as obstructing the investigation.”

The defence lawyers specifically noted that Yermak will now be able to “perform his duties as a lawyer and chairman of the UNBA committee and provide legal assistance to military personnel, including directly at their deployment locations.”

On May 11, Yermak was charged in a case involving the legalisation of 460 million hryvnias (approximately $10.4 million) allegedly obtained during the construction of an upscale cottage settlement on the outskirts of Kyiv. On May 12, investigators conducted searches at his premises.

The court ordered that he be remanded in custody for 60 days, with the possibility of release on bail set at 140 million hryvnias ($3.1 million). Ukrainian media reported that Zelenskyy’s office was forced to mobilise all available resources to raise the bail money.

On May 18, after spending four nights in a pre-trial detention centre, Yermak was released on bail. He was also required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, surrender his foreign passports, and appear before investigators or the court upon request.

By Jeyhun Aghazada