U.S. Representative Victoria Spartz said that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak launched a “smear campaign” against her after she voiced concerns over his integrity.

“I have visited my native Ukraine six times since Russia’s invasion began to gain a better understanding of the situation on the ground - from Lviv in the west, to Chernihiv in the north, to the front in the east, and to the ports of Odessa in the south.

I was disappointed to learn that instead of recognizing its military and launching an all-country effort to support it, Kyiv, with Andriy Yermak effectively at the helm, is playing politics. Also, Kyiv seems to have money for reconstruction efforts for nonessential infrastructure, but no money to support soldiers.

Unfortunately, instead of addressing the concerns I raised last week, Mr. Yermak has launched a smear campaign against me. Many Americans and Europeans have had serious concerns with Mr. Yermak for a while. If he was a statesman, as someone with an already questionable reputation, he would have resigned this winter after assuring the Ukrainian leadership that no attack by Russia was going to happen, which reduced Ukraine’s preparedness. However, it is never too late to do the right thing.

Since I outlined my concerns, I have been accused by Mr. Yermak’s puppets of raising this issue for political benefit. Only those who do not understand American general election politics could make such a claim. There is no political benefit from this, but it is the right thing to do. After trying to resolve this issue internally for some time, I am raising it publicly out of major concern.

Moreover, some have suggested that added oversight could delay the supply of weapons to the Ukrainian military. On the contrary, the current lack of oversight is a contributing factor to the delays, and proper oversight and logistics will only increase speed and efficiency”, - writes Spartz.