Khartiia commander responds to criticism over corps joining Yermak's Advocate+ program

“I am sincerely grateful to everyone who cares about Khartiia’s reputation. That reputation is the result of deterring and destroying the enemy on the battlefield, achieved by thousands of soldiers, sergeants and commanders. Many people who supported Khartiia and believed in our idea also contributed to this result. Back in 2023, Andriy Yermak was one of those who opened the door for us to create the unit and helped provide it with resources. He helped convince the president that an effective unit could grow out of a volunteer formation and that it was worth investing in,” Obolienskyi said on his Facebook page.

He said he had always spoken about this publicly and that, for him, remembering help and support “regardless of a person’s position or even reputational challenges” is a matter of integrity and humanity.

The Khartiia Corps commander stressed that the Advocate+ program is voluntary and that Khartiia service members will decide for themselves whether to use its support. He added that the corps is open to other programs willing to provide legal assistance to its service members.

“And finally. Life has taught me not to fall into either idealization or devaluation. Because ‘every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.’ Khartiia will continue to demonstrate its values and priorities through its results on the battlefield,” Obolienskyi concluded.

Earlier, Ukrainian writer and Khartiia National Guard Brigade service member Serhiy Zhadan criticized the corps for joining Yermak’s Advocate+ program.

“Personally, I see no difference between Yermak as a lawyer and Medvedchuk as a lawyer. I would not want this person to represent me,” Zhadan said.

At the same time, he said he considered it “dishonest to disown your own” and called on Khartiia to openly explain its participation in the program.

On Aug. 14, it was reported that all eight units of the Khartiia Corps had joined the Advocate+ program, launched by a specialized committee of the Ukrainian National Bar Association headed by Yermak. The corps said that “six brigades and two regiments will have even more reliable legal support.”

On March 3, Yermak became head of a committee at the Ukrainian National Bar Association. In May, it was reported that he could lose his right to practice law over alleged violations.

Andriy Yermak case

On May 11, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, or NABU, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, or SAPO, named former presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak as a suspect. The anti-corruption agencies said they had uncovered an organized group involved in laundering 460 million hryvnias through a luxury construction project outside Kyiv, known as the Dynasty cooperative, and identified Yermak as one of the group’s suspected members.

On May 14, the High Anti-Corruption Court ordered Yermak held in custody with the option of posting bail of 140 million hryvnias. He was taken into custody in the courtroom. Several days later, on May 18, the court confirmed that the full bail amount had been posted. Yermak was released from pretrial detention but was required to surrender his passports, remain in Kyiv and wear an electronic monitoring device.

On July 16, Ukrainska Pravda, citing sources, reported that Yermak had visited a command post of Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi in a frontline region. According to the outlet, the visit took place shortly after Mykhailo Fedorov was dismissed as defense minister. That same month, Yermak’s lawyer filed a request with NABU seeking permission for him to leave Kyiv to provide legal assistance to service members.