Ukrainian authorities have escalated a corruption investigation that now targets Andriy Yermak, the former head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, raising questions about whether the scandal could implicate the president himself.

The arrest of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former right-hand man Andriy Yermak Thursday in connection to a corruption scandal comes as a major test for both the Ukrainian government and the country's independent anti-corruption agencies. Yermak is accused of laundering 460 million hryvnia (more than $10 million) in dirty money through an elite real estate project outside of Kyiv – and of having used a secret phone to consult an astrologer on key government appointments.