Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has submitted his resignation amid a corruption scandal.
Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies searched Yermak's home in the morning on Friday. Yermak said he was fully cooperating with the investigators.
Andriy Yermak, leads Kyiv's negotiating team trying to hash out terms after Washington presented a draft backing Russian demands.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office said jointly the searches were "authorised" and linked to an unspecified investigation.
Earlier this month, the two anti-graft agencies unveiled a sweeping investigation into an alleged $100 million kickback scheme at the state atomic energy company that ensnared former senior officials and an ex-business partner of Zelenskyy.
Yermak, 54, has been a close friend of Zelenskyy since before the one-time sitcom star embarked on his political career, and helped guide his 2019 presidential campaign.
He has not been named a suspect, but opposition lawmakers and some members of Zelenskyy's own party have called for his dismissal as part of Ukraine's worst wartime political crisis.
Friday's searches are likely to inflame tensions between Zelenskyy and his political opponents as Kyiv faces mounting pressure to accept a deal that could force it into painful concessions.
In a statement on Friday, the opposition European Solidarity party called for Yermak's dismissal and his removal from the negotiating team, as well as for a new coalition government and talks with Zelenskyy.
"The issue of peace and the fate of Ukrainians cannot depend on the personal vulnerabilities and tarnished reputation of politicians involved in a corruption scandal," it said.
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 years and the country’s highest political and religious authority, has died aged 86 following joint Israeli and U.S. strikes on his compound in Tehran.
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Afghanistan said it had fired at Pakistani aircraft over Kabul after explosions and gunfire rocked the capital early on Sunday, marking a sharp escalation in fighting between the two neighbours.
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Cuba has released extensive details of a deadly midweek shootout at sea, showing rifles, pistols and nearly 13,000 rounds of ammunition that it says were carried by a group of exiles who attempted to enter the island by speedboat.
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers said on Friday (27 February) they were ready to negotiate after Pakistan bombed their forces in several Afghan cities, including Kabul and Kandahar, and Islamabad declared the neighbours were now in "open war".
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