Six Ukrainian cabinet ministers have resigned from their portfolios as part of a major government shake-up, meaning a swag of senior plum jobs are up for grabs.
ADVERTISEMENTSix Ukrainian cabinet ministers — including the high-profile outgoing Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba — have resigned from their positions in recent days, sending handwritten notes to parliament that offered little explanation for their decisions.
Although there is no formal on-the-record comment about what’s driving the shake-up, which is also rumoured to be structural, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday his government needed “new energy” in various areas.
“These new steps are connected to strengthening our state in different directions,” he said at a press conference.
This is the biggest government reshuffle since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. The change in Kyiv also came as Ukraine fights to defend against the incursion into Russia that it launched nearly a month ago and struggles to hold back a punishing advance of enemy troops in the east.
Davyd Arakhamia, who leads the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, said a handful of names had been solidified as part of the move.
The most significant departures include the high-profile outgoing Kuleba, tipped to be replaced by Andrii Sybiha currently serving as first deputy foreign minister.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna is confirmed to move into the justice portfolio and also take charge of European integration, with her old job snapped up by ex-Justice Minister Denys Maliuska.
Outgoing Deputy Prime Minister and Reintegration Minister Iryna Vereshchuk will become Deputy Head at the president’s office. At the same time, Oleksandr Kamyshin will trade the position of Strategic Industries Minister for a presidential advisor role.
Herman Smetanin, CEO of arms company Ukroboronprom, a major player in the Ukrainian defence industry, will pick up the Strategic Industries ministry.
Ruslan Strilets’ ecology and environment portfolio is tipped to be soon headed up by former Deputy Minister of Energy Svitlana Grynchuk.
Matviy Bidnyi will take over the sports minister portfolio permanently, and Nataliia Kalmykova will now be the minister for war veterans affairs.
The national parliament, Verkhovna Rada, is set to confirm the new positions at a vote on Thursday.