BIC: Initiatives to Sanction Lukashenka Existed Earlier, but Andriy Yermak Opposed Them

Former Head of the Ukrainian President’s Office Andriy Yermak categorically opposed the introduction of sanctions against Aliaksandr Lukashenka since 2022. Their adoption became possible only after his departure, the Belarusian Investigative Center reports, citing a senior Ukrainian official.

According to the BIC, the official spoke on condition of anonymity a day before the President of Ukraine signed the decree “On the Application of Personal Special Economic and Other Restrictive Measures (Sanctions).” According to the source, initiatives to impose sanctions against Lukashenka were discussed as early as the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, but the then Head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, categorically opposed them.

“In 2022, I remember, we discussed it, but at the time it was… like a political game: so as not to push him [Lukashenka] completely toward Russia, so that he would not allow troops to pass through himself [through Belarus] any longer. Andriy Borysovych [Yermak] was always against sanctions regarding Belarus. Now, I think, no one has such an openly opposing position anymore,” he said.

Under Ukraine’s Law “On Sanctions,” the National Security and Defense Council considers issues related to the application, cancellation, and amendment of sanctions based on proposals from the Verkhovna Rada, the President, the Cabinet of Ministers, the National Bank, or the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). A BIC journalist sent inquiries to the President’s Office, the SBU, and the National Bank to clarify why sanctions against Lukashenka had not been initiated. The President’s Office did not respond, the National Bank confirmed the signing of the decree on the day it was introduced, and the SBU stated that disclosing the information could pose a threat to national security.

On February 17, the same Ukrainian official, speaking anonymously, said that the BIC journalist’s inquiry to the President’s Office regarding the absence of sanctions against Aliaksandr Lukashenka had “actually attracted attention,” the report says.

Former Ukrainian Ambassador to Belarus and former Ambassador-at-Large for Belarus at Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry Ihor Kyzym believes that the sanctions decision is linked not to Yermak’s departure but to changes in the President’s Office policy and new signs of Lukashenka’s involvement in aggression against Ukraine, including control over the passage of Russian drones through Belarus.

“I do not think Yermak was that central in this regard,” Kyzym said in a comment to the BIC. “New signs of his [Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s] participation in aggression are emerging, including that the passage of Russian drones is controlled from his territory. That is, they continue to facilitate Russian aggression. And probably each such step of negative attitude toward Ukraine must be met with a response from Ukraine.”

Andriy Yermak, a former film producer, headed the President’s Office from February 2020. Before that, he served as a presidential aide and held the position during the only meeting between Zelenskyy and Lukashenka in October 2019 in Zhytomyr. Yermak left his post in November 2025 amid a political scandal related to corruption in the energy sector and following the publication of audio recordings mentioning a person nicknamed Ali-Baba, whom MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak allegedly identified as Yermak.

After Yermak’s resignation, on January 25, 2026, Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Belarusian democratic forces leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, which Yermak had previously opposed. BIC journalists contacted the former Head of the President’s Office for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

As a reminder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 18 introduced sanctions against Aliaksandr Lukashenka. The sanctions were imposed, among other reasons, for deploying a system of relay transmitters in Belarus used to control strike drones. They include stripping Lukashenka of Ukrainian state awards, asset freezes, restrictions on trade operations, transit restrictions, a ban on participation in privatization, and other measures.