Andriy Yermak

Some Lesser Known Facts About Andriy Yermak

• Andriy Yermak’s mother, Maria, is of Russian descent. His father, Borys, is of Ukrainian descent and Jewish. They met on a school trip from Leningrad to Kyiv through friends.​

• After their marriage in 1971, Maria moved to Kyiv from Russia. His brother, Denys, is eight years younger than him.​

  

• During his second year of university, Andriy Yermak started working at the Proxen law firm at the request of one of his professors.​

• In 1995, after completing his formal education, he received his law license.​

• In 1997, Andriy Yermak established his own law firm and started practising intellectual property and commercial law.​

• During this time, he joined the Association of Lawyers of Ukraine.

  

• From 2006 to 2014,  as a lawyer, Andriy Yermak represented Party of Regions MP Elbrus Tedeyev.

• In 2009, he founded the ‘Association of Entrepreneurs of the City of Kyiv.’

• In 2010, during the Ukrainian presidential election, Andriy Yermak represented candidate Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kyiv’s 216th area.​

• In 2011, he was appointed as the head of the ‘Association of Small Business Owners.’

• That same year, Andriy Yermak met Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During this time, Zelenskyy worked as a general producer for a television channel named Inter.​

• After that, the two became friends.​

  

• In 2012, Andriy Yermak established the Garnet International Media Group, under which he produced various films, including Rules of the Fight and The Line.

• In 2017, he joined the Ukrainian Film Academy and the European Film Academy.​

  

• In 2019, Andriy Yermak participated in various campaigns for Zelenskyy’s team during the Ukrainian presidential election.

• On 21 May 2019, President Zelenskyy appointed him as Presidential Aide for Foreign Policy Issues.

• In that role, he handled big prisoner exchanges with Russia during the Donbas war.​ He then became the main contact in Ukraine to deal with the team of US President Donald Trump.​

• During the Trump-Ukraine scandal, Andriy Yermak met with Kurt Volker and Rudy Giuliani on behalf of Zelenskyy.

• He said that Zelenskyy would investigate Burisma, the company that hired Hunter Biden, an American attorney and businessman. However, the statement was never publicly made by Zelenskyy.

• On 11 February 2020, President Zelenskyy appointed Andriy Yermak as the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.​

• On 12 February 2020, he joined the National Security and Defence Council, where he assisted the President with administrative work, legal matters, advice, media, analysis, and other responsibilities.​

• On 2 March 2022, Andriy Yermak was appointed as the chairman of the Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian and Social Affairs.

• That same year, he supported and defended the Battle of Bakhmut, despite frontline commanders demanding a strategic retreat.​

• On 20 December 2022, Zelenskyy and Andriy Yermak visited the Bakhmut frontline.​

  

• In June 2023, Russian forces captured Bakhmut after a big battle.​

• That same year, Politico, an American political digital news outlet, referred to Andriy Yermak as Kyiv’s ‘Green Cardinal’ for his influence in public and private matters. He was often spotted wearing olive combat clothes.​

• In 2024, the Financial Times stated that he shaped Ukraine’s foreign policy by drafting peace plans and acting with presidential power.​They claimed that he has a huge but divided influence among Ukrainians, world leaders, and diplomats.​

• During the same time, some critics said that Andriy Yermak weakened the democratic checks and balances in Ukraine.

• That same year, he was featured on the cover of Time magazine and was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.​

  

• In June 2025, reportedly, Russia tried to assassinate his younger brother, Denys, while he was working in the Zaporizhzhia direction.

• In 2025, The Kyiv Independent, an English-language Ukrainian online news outlet, reported that some officials observed the negative impact of Andriy Yermak on EU and US politics.​

• In Ukraine, his reputation became even worse.​ In 2025, some anti-corruption groups targeted top officials when Yermak and Zelenskyy’s office backed a law that would put NABU and the anti-corruption prosecutors under a political prosecutor general.​

• This led to the first big anti-government protests in Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion.​ After that, Zelenskyy abandoned the plan due to pressure from the EU.

  

• Two weeks before Andriy Yermak’s dismissal, anti-corruption agencies broke up a crime group involving energy officials, ministers, and a former deputy prime minister.​

• This was part of a growing $100 million corruption scandal in the energy sector.​

• On 28 November 2025, during Operation Midas, agents from NABU and the anti-corruption prosecutors raided his house.​

• After that, Zelenskyy removed Andriy Yermak as the head of the Office of the President.

• Once, during a press conference, he claimed that some of his relatives were killed at Babyn Yar, a ravine near Kyiv.​ Reportedly, Nazi Germany and local helpers killed over 33,000 Jews there in September 1941.

• Andriy Yermak is a fitness enthusiast and goes to the gym regularly. He often shares pictures of his gym sessions on social media.

  

• He enjoys smoking cigarettes occasionally.