Volodymyr Zelensky’s former chief of staff was charged with corruption and money laundering on Monday as Ukraine’s galvanised watchdog pressed on with its widening investigation. Andriy Yermak, who was until late last year the president’s closest advisor, was accused of laundering some UAH 460 million (£7.73m) through luxury accommodation near Kyiv. He denies ownership in the project. Ukraine’s top anti-corruption agencies announced today they had charged six suspects in connection to the probe, which they said was linked to Operation Midas, the growing crackdown on an alleged plot to skim $100m from the country’s energy sector. A law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent that Timur Mindich, a close associate of Zelensky, and former deputy prime minister Oleksiy Chenyshov were also among those newly charged. The head of the bureau, buoyed in recent years to investigate allegations of graft in the top tiers of government, said on Tuesday that Zelensky was not currently a subject of any such probe.…