Yermak did not appeal to the TCC and did not mobilize — Ministry of Defense
15 January 13:11
As of mid-January 2026, former Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak is not serving in the military and has not applied to any territorial recruitment centers (TRCs). This contradicts his public statement about his intention to go to the front after leaving office.
This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, who published the official response of the Ministry of Defense to his request.
According to the document signed by Deputy Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Yevhen Moysyuk, there is no information about Yermak’s service in the ministry’s records.
“We inform you that as of the date of consideration of the deputy’s appeal, Ukrainian citizen Andriy Borisovich Yermak has not applied to any military registration and enlistment office or military unit regarding his desire to serve in the military under mobilization or contract,” the Ministry of Defense’s response states.
At the end of November 2024, after his resignation, Andriy Yermak said in a comment to the New York Post that he planned to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Yaroslav Zheleznyak checked the versions about the former official’s possible presence in the security forces. Information about his alleged presence at the facilities of the Foreign Intelligence Service, which had previously appeared in the media, was not confirmed — official requests to the Foreign Intelligence Service received a negative response.
Rumors about his involvement in the Ground Forces were also not confirmed. In response to a request from journalists at Slidstvo.Info, it was stated that Yermak is not listed in the Ground Forces.
The MP emphasized that since Yermak no longer holds a position in the Presidential Administration, he has lost his right to exemption from mobilization and, as a citizen of draft age, must perform military duty on general terms.
Yermak’s dismissal
On November 28, 2025, Zelensky announced that the head of the Presidential Administration, Andriy Yermak, had resigned. Shortly thereafter, a corresponding decree appeared on the president’s website. This happened against the backdrop of searches by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) of Yermak’s residence as part of Operation Midas, an investigation into embezzlement at Energoatom.
On January 2, 2026, Zelensky offered the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, Budanov, to head the Office of the President and already assigned him a number of tasks in his new position. The lieutenant general announced that he had accepted Zelensky’s offer to head the OPU, stating that he would “continue to serve Ukraine.”
On the same day, Zelensky officially appointed Budanov as the new head of the Office of the President, and Oleg Ivashchenko, who had previously been the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, became the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.
