President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 's powerful chief of staff, a close ally of the president who has headed Ukraine's negotiation team at fraught U.S.-backed peace talks , quit on Friday, hours after anti-corruption agents searched his home.

Zelenskyy said Andriy Yermak had resigned and that he would consider his replacement on Saturday.

Yermak's departure comes as a major probe into high-level graft ensnared senior officials, fueling widespread public anger.

"Russia very much wants Ukraine to make mistakes," Zelenskyy said in a video address. "There will be no mistakes on our part. Our work continues."

Yermak, 54, has been a close friend of Zelenskyy since the president's days as a TV comedian, and helped guide Zelenskyy's successful 2019 presidential campaign as a political outsider.

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