OddsFrontUkrainian court removes Andriy Yermak’s electronic monitor on medical grounds
Other restrictions remain in force as Ukraine’s former presidential chief of staff faces an ongoing high-level money-laundering investigation.
Monitoring requirement lifted
Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court has allowed former presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak to stop wearing an electronic ankle monitor. The September 15 decision cited an independent medical assessment that continued use of the device could threaten his health. The ruling does not end the criminal proceedings or remove every condition attached to his release.
Yermak must still notify authorities if his residence or employment changes, surrender passports needed for foreign travel and remain within locations authorised by the court. Those obligations were extended for another 60 days. An earlier ruling had already widened the territory in which he could travel beyond Kyiv and the surrounding region.
The corruption case behind the restrictions
Investigators suspect Yermak of laundering more than 460 million hryvnias connected to the construction of a luxury residential development outside Kyiv. He was named as a suspect in May and released on bail set at 140 million hryvnias. The allegations have not been proved in court, and the investigation remains active.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau says its wider inquiry concerns proceeds allegedly derived from a kickback system involving Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear-power company. NABU’s first-half report identifies the former head of the Presidential Office among senior figures served with notices of suspicion and says the alleged laundering exceeded 460 million hryvnias. Yermak is therefore a suspect, not a convicted offender.
Political and institutional stakes
Yermak resigned as head of the Presidential Office in November 2025 after searches connected to the investigation. A presidential decree formally recorded his dismissal. Because he had been one of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s closest and most powerful aides, each change in his pretrial restrictions attracts scrutiny over whether Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions can investigate politically connected figures during wartime.
Two independent permitted outlets reported the monitor decision, while the court’s medical reasoning was relayed without disclosure of Yermak’s specific condition. Removing the device may make continuous location tracking harder, although other surveillance and reporting mechanisms remain available. The next material developments will be any further change to his restrictions, completion of the pretrial investigation or a prosecutorial decision on whether the evidence is sufficient for trial.