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| Zelensky and his now former chief of staff Andriy Yermak |
The Islander
Andriy Yermak says he’s “disgusted” by the lack of support after the NABU raid. He shouldn’t be. Anyone who understands how empires operate knows exactly what just happened, the moment you stop being strategically useful, you are not protected — you are erased. And in the eyes of Ukraine’s patrons, Yermak’s usefulness expired the second he became an obstacle to the settlement being shaped behind closed doors.
The choreography of his fall tells the story. NABU, Washington’s precision instrument moonlighting as an anti-corruption agency — doesn’t shatter the life of Zelensky’s most powerful ally unless the script has been approved at a higher altitude. Yermak resigned in hours. No protest. No resistance. Because he understood something Zelensky still refuses to accept, when the Americans decide the purge is necessary, the only question left is who gets thrown first.
Zelensky actually believes that by sacrificing his own accomplices, he can protect himself. He imagines that tossing Yermak overboard will save his own skin. It is the final delusion of a man already circling the drain, the belief that loyalty to the machine will buy mercy from it. He should look into the eyes of Saakashvili.
Yermak’s response, texting foreign papers about “desecration” and “no dignity,” announcing he’ll go “to the front” as if Shakespearean redemption lies in a trench, only confirms his exile. It is the language of a man who realizes too late he has become disposable. A man who spent the war in fortified offices now promises to “serve on the front line.” Everyone understands what that means: the exit door is being painted as patriotism.
But the loudest panic is not in Kiev, it’s in London and Brussels. Europe knows that if this war ends now, peace will pry open every lie they’ve told their own people. The EU destroyed its industry, strangled its energy supply, gutted its middle class, and mortgaged its future, all for a proxy war Washington is now quietly exiting. Brussels needed Yermak’s head on a platter to cleanse the corruption stench and force their rouge puppet to wear the inevitable capitulation.
Washington, meanwhile, has moved into the endgame. The U.S. wants silence, and will take a hasty offramp to stave off total humiliation, and let Europe wear it. Europe wants noise to drown out its own culpability. Zelensky wants fire because chaos is the only thing keeping him in office. Three conflicting agendas — and only one player with the resources to impose order. Spoiler: it isn’t Zelensky, and it certainly isn’t the EU.
Russia observes all of this with the serene patience of a side that holds every card. Moscow doesn’t need to gloat because the West’s internal fracture is louder than any Russian statement. The terms remain unchanged: either negotiations occur on the basis of battlefield reality, or Russia continues to dismantle NATO’s proxy forces until there is nothing left to negotiate. For Russia, both outcomes strengthen its position. For the West, both outcomes accelerate the reckoning.
This is why Yermak fell. This is why the timing was precise. And this is why the next phase will be even bloodier – politically, not militarily. More raids will come as Washington forces Kiev into line. More downloading of humiliation onto Europe. Zelensky will grow more frantic, more isolated, more willing to sacrifice anyone but himself. But he will eventually learn the lesson every proxy leader learns: when you serve the empire, you don’t get to choose the manner of your exit.
Yermak wasn’t removed because of corruption. He was removed because someone had to be the first offering on the altar of Western retreat. And when the dust settles, when Europe finally confronts the consequences of its imperial cosplay, Yermak’s fall will be remembered as the moment the facade cracked and the whole edifice truly began to crumble.
Because this war will be defined by less of what Russia won and more by what Europe destroyed with its own hands.
