President fires chief of staff
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed the chief of his administration, Andriy Bohdan, and replaced him with Andriy Yermak, an aide whose name has been linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani. The presidential decrees on relieving Mr. Bohdan from his duties and appointing Mr. Yermak were signed on February 11 and placed on the presidential website. Evidence and testimony gathered during Mr. Trump’s recent impeachment hearing shows Mr. Giuliani met with Mr. Yermak to “strongly” urge an investigation Mr. Trump wanted of Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son’s ties to Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. Mr. Bohdan’s appointment to the post in May last year, after Mr. Zelenskyy won the presidential election, sparked controversy as Mr. Bohdan used to be a lawyer for powerful tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky, who returned to Kyiv days ahead of Mr. Zelenskyy’s inauguration after two years of self-imposed exile in Geneva and Tel Aviv.