The Institution of Personal Loyalty

Politico journalists describe Andriy Yermak as "one of the most powerful figures in the country—if not equal to the president himself." In an article titled The Enigma of Andriy Yermak, they trace how a former film producer with no public political capital became Ukraine’s top negotiator with the U.S., Europe, and potentially—even Russia.

Today, Yermak oversees not just the President’s Office but the entire agenda of Bankova Street. He is the first point of contact for Western capitals, the one who coordinates Ukraine’s negotiating positions, and, as Politico notes, the indispensable filter between the president and the outside world.

"I entered politics with Volodymyr Zelensky—and I will leave with him," Yermak told Politico. "For me, this is not about a career or positions."

But critics are skeptical. Behind the facade of absolute loyalty, they increasingly see not just devotion, but control. According to Politico, nearly all former ministers and officials interviewed by the journalists agreed to speak only anonymously. As one put it, "you have to be very careful with Yermak."

Yermak’s past seems hard to reconcile with his current stature. A former lawyer and low-budget film producer, he once made action flicks like "The Rules of Combat" and crime dramas. Now, he represents Ukraine in negotiations with the U.S., France, and Germany. It was Yermak, Politico notes, who insisted in Istanbul that a ceasefire should be the first item on the agenda.

Reserved yet impeccably dressed, Yermak is especially important in contacts with Trump’s circle. "He understands Trump’s people better than Zelensky does," says Mykola Kniazhytskyi. Even he, one of Yermak’s sharpest critics, admits: while Zelensky has struggled to adapt to the new U.S. political reality, Yermak already has.

The central question running through the Politico article is this: Who is Yermak really, and whose interests does he serve? He has faced allegations of ties to Russian intelligence and comparisons to Rasputin’s shadow. But the journalists argue that Yermak is no mystic—he’s a pragmatist. His strength lies in reading people. "He knows how to read Zelensky and anticipate what he wants," notes a former minister who had a long-running conflict with him.

It was this skill that made him indispensable. In 2019, shortly after being appointed as an advisor, he organized the first major prisoner exchange with Russia. Greeting the freed sailors, he already looked like a rising star on Bankova. Within months, he was heading the President’s Office—and according to Politico, began a systematic purge of rivals.

When Yermak arrived on Bankova, Zelensky’s inner circle was still dominated by his longtime colleagues from Kvartal 95. Yermak was an outsider. Today, few of those original allies remain. Even Zelensky’s closest confidant, Serhiy Shefir, only learned of his dismissal when he walked into his office and found someone else sitting at his desk.

"Yermak immediately attached himself to Zelensky," recalls former press secretary Yuliya Mendel. He built influence step by step: informal chats at the gym, then a prisoner exchange, then the strategic ousting of Andriy Bohdan, the previous chief of staff. From there, he constructed his own vertical of power.

According to Politico’s sources, Yermak is surrounded by a group of informal advisers—figures who hold no official government posts, file no declarations, and are not accountable to the public. Some of them have been named in anti-corruption investigations that were later closed at the initiative of his deputy, Oleh Tatarov, a former Interior Ministry official under Yanukovych.

Future ministers and agency heads rotated in and out. Even political heavyweights like Kuleba and Zaluzhnyi were eventually sidelined. One of the few who retained influence is intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov—reportedly the only official who has direct access to Zelensky without Yermak as an intermediary.

Both Yermak and Zelensky are lawyers by training, raised in middle-class families, and both transitioned into the entertainment industry. Their bond is rooted not only in biography but in temperament. Former ministers recall how Yermak would always attend presidential meetings—listening, commenting, sometimes just sitting with his phone, showing Zelensky something he deemed important. Eventually, many stopped attending in person and opted to communicate in writing.

"There’s a real mental connection between him and the president," says a former high-ranking official.

Yermak rejects the idea that his influence amounts to a monopoly on power. In his interview with Politico, he states: "This is not a separate power vertical, but a working tool of the president—especially during wartime, when decisions must be made quickly and decisively." In his view, "centralizing the entire system of power is physically impossible."

Critics disagree. "We don’t have a properly functioning Cabinet of Ministers," says Daria Kaleniuk. "We have a quasi-version of it, headed by Yermak." She describes his management style as opaque and dangerous.

Amid the dismissals, growing influence, and his role as gatekeeper to Zelensky, a question is increasingly raised: Is Yermak preparing for a political career of his own? Politico quotes a former minister who is convinced he is. "His name has to be everywhere. He experiences marginalization almost as physical pain."

Yermak, for his part, strongly denies any such ambition: "As long as the fight continues, thinking about personal political plans is irresponsible."

Political analyst Ruslan Bortnik believes Yermak has no future without Zelensky: "He is unpopular, lacks elite backing, and is a transitional figure." And yet, it is through him that the country’s most critical decisions now flow.

That is precisely what makes him impossible to ignore—whether in Kyiv, Washington, or Moscow. And, as the Politico article makes clear, the greatest enigma in Ukrainian politics today.