Zelenskyy's former top aide Yermak to head new Bar Association committee on war victims and compensation
Andrii Yermak, the former head of the President's Office, has been appointed chair of a committee set up on his initiative within the National Bar Association of Ukraine (NBAU) to focus on the protection of victims of armed aggression against Ukraine, compensation mechanisms, and legal support for European integration and reconstruction.
Source: NBAU website
Quote: "The establishment of the committee was initiated by Andrii Yermak. His professional background combines legal practice, management experience in the private sector, and work in public authorities, including taking part in shaping state policies. The deputy chair of the committee is lawyer Zhanna Hrushko."
Details: The committee chaired by Yermak is an advisory body of the NBAU. It was established in accordance with an order by Lidiia Izovitova, Head of the NBAU and the Bar Council of Ukraine.
The National Bar Association noted that members of committee councils, including chairs, serve on a voluntary basis.
It said the committee was set up "to ensure that the legal profession takes a systematic part in shaping legal solutions in the field of protecting those affected by armed aggression, developing compensation mechanisms and providing regulatory support for Ukraine's reconstruction, and strengthening the legal community's professional capacity to defend the rights and legitimate interests of such persons during wartime and the post-war period".
Previously:
- Masi Nayyem, a veteran and founder of the law firm Miller, recently said Yermak had offered to join efforts to challenge the International Olympic Committee's decision to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych from the 2026 Olympics.
- Heraskevych's lawyer Yevhenii Pronin later stated that no one from Yermak's side had contacted or managed to reach the athlete's team with an offer of legal assistance.
Read more: St Andrew the First-Called Apostle: how Andrii Yermak became Zelenskyy's right-hand man
Background:
- On the morning of 28 November 2025, Ukrainska Pravda reported that detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and prosecutors from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) had conducted searches pertaining to Andrii Yermak in Kyiv's government quarter. Journalists filmed around ten anti-corruption officers entering the premises.
- Yermak confirmed that searches were being carried out at his place of residence and said he was ready to cooperate with the investigation.
- Later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had dismissed Yermak as head of the President's Office. On 2 January, Zelenskyy appointed Defence Intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov as the new head of the Office.
- Yermak himself said he was heading to the front line after submitting his resignation amid the corruption scandal and investigative actions by NABU at his home.
- According to ZN.UA, Yermak visited the office of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine on 5 December 2025. However, Ukrainska Pravda sources did not confirm this information.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!