After scandal, Ukraine's president's office chief seeks to restore trust by tapping veterans
President's Office Head Andriy Yermak attends a meeting of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky with then-Polish President Andrzej Duda at Belweder Palace in Warsaw, Poland, on Jan.15, 2025. (Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine
President's Office Head Andriy Yermak has a new idea — bring in soldiers and veterans into the office recently rocked by scandal.
"It is fair. Because these people are the benchmark of honor, morality, and loyalty to Ukraine," Yermak said on social media on Aug. 22.
President Volodymyr Zelensky backed the idea.
Yermak's new push comes a month after a major scandal, in which the president's team attempted to take away the independence of major anti-corruption institutions.
Experts, veterans, and soldiers who spoke with the Kyiv Independent see the step as something that could strengthen public trust in the President's Office and improve its image.
They say it remains to be seen whether it is a genuine attempt to improve the office’s work or a smokescreen designed to play on people’s trust.
"The army has the highest authority," Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Krotevych, former chief of staff of Azov Brigade, told the Kyiv Independent. "The experience of war shapes discipline, responsibility, and a focus on results — qualities that officials lack."
A similar step has been taken before.
Last year, Pavlo Palisa, then commander of Ukraine's elite 93rd Brigade, was appointed as the President's Office deputy head. Palisa was made part of the Ukrainian delegation during talks with Russia in Turkey, and joined Zelensky on his recent visit to Washington to meet U.S. President Donald Trump.
It's still unclear what the reform will look like, what structural changes will take place, or when they will happen.
In 2019, Zelensky renamed the Presidential Administration to the President's Office, as part of a number of sweeping populist reforms.
Despite claiming that the reformed office would be more transparent, not much has changed compared to the structure of the discontinued Presidential Administration.
"(The new initiative was announced) to make sure the office is seen not just as 'Yermak's Office,' so to speak, but as a state institution with many people who have served on the front lines and proven their willingness and ability to defend the country," political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told the Kyiv Independent.
"So that this gradually changes public perception of the President's Office and the people who work there."
Critics and opposition lawmakers have long argued that the President's Office has concentrated too much power, taking over roles meant for both the executive and legislative branches.
They link this to Yermak, who is widely seen as Zelensky's right-hand man, and who reportedly influences appointments both within the body and in the government, often placing loyal people in key roles.
As of fall 2024, around 58% of Ukrainians felt the President's Office exceeded its authority, influencing the government and parliament, according to a poll conducted by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation jointly with the Razumkov Center at the Chesno political watchdog’s request.
In July, the President's Office faced backlash after Zelensky signed a bill removing the independence of two key anti-corruption agencies. This sparked the first anti-government protests since Russia's full-scale invasion. Though the decision was reversed within a week, it caused a dip in Zelensky's approval ratings.
"There will mostly be a positive attitude toward the military and veterans. The idea is to ease some of the existing tension," Fesenko said.
The news also comes as the country works to implement initiatives aimed at helping reintegrate veterans returning from the war into civilian life.
As of August, there are over 1.3 million veterans in Ukraine, according to Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal. The Veterans Affairs Ministry said that after the war ends, veterans and their close family members could make up one-sixth of the country's population, or up to six million people.
Fesenko thinks more veterans will join public service in the future due to strong public demand. He expects some of them to enter government, local councils, and parliament, regardless of who is in power.
Many former politicians and public figures are among active service members and veterans, and there is a growing understanding that they, along with other current military personnel, may have political ambitions.
Ivan Nikolienko, a combat medic with the Hospitallers battalion, fears that soldiers and veterans who could be brought into the President's Office might "not get real influence" and that those in power "could use them to legitimize" their own actions.
Echoing this sentiment, Krotevych said that the selection for positions must be "transparent and fair."
"And most importantly — everything will depend on whether these people are actually allowed to work and influence the processes, or if they are made just executors," said Krotevych.
"In the latter case, it will be nothing but populism."
Note from the author:
Hello there! This is Kateryna Denisova, the author of this piece.
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