Veronika: Ukraine's presidential clairvoyant

The shadow of a mysterious astrology consultant now looms over one of the biggest political and financial scandals Ukraine has seen since the start of the war. While the former head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, was placed in pretrial detention this Thursday morning in a case involving the alleged laundering of more than 460 million hryvnias, Ukrainian prosecutors revealed an explosive and unexpected element: several high-level appointments to the state were allegedly approved after consultation with a certain "Veronika Feng Shui." The High Anti-Corruption Court in Kyiv ordered his detention for 60 days, with bail set at 140 million hryvnias, or approximately $3,2 million.

According to evidence presented before Kyiv's High Anti-Corruption Court, this woman, identified as Veronika Anikyevich, allegedly maintained a direct and privileged relationship with Volodymyr Zelenskyy's former right-hand man. Prosecutors claim that Yermak provided her with the birth dates of high-ranking officials before their appointments so that she could give her astrological "approval." Among the positions involved were reportedly those of the Ukrainian Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, and Oleh Tatarov, a powerful deputy to the Ukrainian president.

The case takes an even more disturbing turn with the discovery of a phone dedicated solely to communications between Yermak and this "advisor." Investigators from NABU and SAPO also claim to have found messages in which Veronika encouraged the former chief of staff to "crush" his political and media opponents. Very active on Telegram, where she runs a channel devoted to astrology and personal development, she now publicly defends Yermak and accuses Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies of being manipulated to bring about Ukraine's "capitulation."

Ukrainian investigators also suspect Andriy Yermak of involvement in a vast money laundering scheme linked to a luxury real estate project near Kyiv. According to several Ukrainian media outlets, some of the funds under investigation originated from corruption schemes involving the state-owned nuclear company Energoatom, as well as various networks of influence close to the government. A former negotiator for Kyiv with the United States and long considered the second most powerful man in the country after Zelensky, Yermak resigned from his post in November 2025 following a series of high-profile raids on his home.

Placed at the heart of the scandal, Veronika Anikyevich has become, despite herself, one of the most perplexing faces of this Ukrainian political crisis.