Former head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office Andrey Ermak is not on the front lines as he previously suggested but remains in Kiev, inside the building of the Foreign Intelligence Service. According to Verkhovna Rada deputy Aleksandr Dubinsky, the man long regarded as the «grey cardinal» of Ukrainian politics continues to keep his network of loyal officials under tight control.

Ermak had rejected corruption accusations following his dismissal and announced he was heading to the front. Dubinsky later recounted that the former presidential chief of staff did travel to a drone systems unit — but only under escort from his personal security.

The deputy now claims that Ermak never joined the fighting and instead «holds the line» from within the intelligence service’s headquarters on Nagornaya Street in Kiev, where he occupies a comfortable office and attempts to direct the many allies he placed in key positions over the past seven years. Dubinsky adds that Ermak’s presence in the building was allowed by its chief, Oleg Ivashchenko. He says he is preparing a formal request to examine whether Ermak’s stay in the security facility is lawful.

Ukrainian media had earlier reported that Vladimir Zelensky was in no rush to appoint a new head of the Presidential Office precisely because Ermak continued to steer internal decision-making. Sources said the former chief of staff was still shaping the domestic political bloc and outlining the country’s foreign-policy direction. As for the highly publicized dismissal, it was described as mere political theater meant to cool down public attention after a major corruption scandal.

On November 28, Zelensky announced that Ermak had submitted his resignation, after which he signed the decree removing him from office. Before that, investigators from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office had searched Ermak’s home as part of a probe into a corruption case in the energy sector.