In the West, Zelensky and Yermak’s relationship was described with the phrase “sleeping side by side”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his chief of staff Andriy Yermak are reportedly living in the same bunker and sleeping next to each other due to intensified Russian attacks.

This was reported by the British newspaper The Financial Times (FT).

“The relationship between the two men goes beyond work, say their aides and allies (…) They sleep next to each other in a bunker beneath a building protected from Russian airstrikes, which have intensified since the spring,” the article states.

According to FT, Zelensky and Yermak are known to unwind after long workdays by playing table tennis or watching classic films together. They also reportedly like to start their mornings with workouts, lifting weights side by side.

“They both train a lot (…) He [Yermak] likes to look like a handsome man,” the paper quotes Oleksandr Rodnyansky, a friend of Yermak and a former adviser to the president (Rodnyansky has been listed as a “foreign agent” by the Russian Ministry of Justice).

Earlier, Member of Parliament Anna Skorokhod stated that the candidacy of Yuliya Svyrydenko for the position of Prime Minister was put forward by Andriy Yermak, head of the President’s Office. According to her, Svyrydenko is considered to be Yermak’s close associate.