Volodymyr Zelensky is facing a political firestorm as calls grow for him to dump his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, in a corruption scandal that now includes a golden toilet.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau says roughly £76 million was siphoned out of the country’s energy sector by business leaders and government officials. Yermak, Zelensky’s closest aide, is accused of choking off anti-corruption probes, though investigators have not accused him of taking a cut of the scheme himself.
Unnamed officials warned local media that Zelensky’s entire government could collapse if he refuses to remove Yermak, saying, “Our enemies smell blood.”
The allegations hit a nerve in a country where families endure constant rolling blackouts because of Russia’s attacks on energy infrastructure.
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