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The biggest reshuffle in Ukraine’s wartime government took place in Kyiv on Tuesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a series of resignations from the country’s ministers as part of an effort to “give new powers” to Ukraine’s institutions.
The shift comes at a crucial moment in the 30-month war, as Kiev tries to contain Moscow’s escalating offensive in eastern Ukraine while simultaneously trying to consolidate control over some 1,000 square kilometers of territory it has captured inside Russia’s Kursk region.
“The fall will be extremely important for Ukraine. And our state institutions must be set up in such a way that Ukraine will achieve all the results we need — for all of us,” Zelenskyy said in his evening speech on Tuesday. “To do this, we need to strengthen some areas of government — and personnel decisions are already being prepared.”
He said there would likely be a lot of changes taking place in his office and that “some areas of our domestic and foreign policy will have a slightly different focus”.
Some of the ministers who have resigned may continue to work in government but will take on new roles or expand their portfolios, several officials who have resigned told the FT.
Many personnel changes have been made in the Ukrainian government since Full-scale Russian invasion starting in February 2022, including replacing the defense minister, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the heads of domestic and foreign intelligence agencies and the national security agency.
But David Arakhamia, the head of Zelenskyy’s ruling Servant of the People group in parliament, wrote on Telegram that more than half of Ukraine’s current cabinet would be moved or replaced in the coming days, making these the most sweeping changes to the government since the Russian invasion.
“As promised, a full government reboot could take place this week,” he announced on the social media platform on Tuesday evening local time.
Wednesday will be “firing day and the next day… appointment day,” he said.
Kyiv sought to turn the tide of war in its favor by its daring incursion into Russia last month and bolstered its position ahead of any possible peace talks, after months of hardship in which it lost the initiative on the battlefield and suffered rolling nationwide blackouts due to Russian airstrikes on its energy infrastructure.
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister in charge of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, was among those who submitted their resignations on Tuesday evening, she confirmed to the Financial Times.
Stefanishyna, who was appointed in 2020, led Ukraine’s bid to join the EU. She said she hoped to get an expanded mandate as part of the reform. “But you know, that’s[s] may change along the way, as is often the case in politics. Especially in [Ukraine]”, she said.
Iryna Vereshchuk, deputy prime minister in charge of reintegrating Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories, resigned shortly afterwards.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaker of the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada), said he had received resignations from Oleksandr Kamyshin, minister of strategic industry, from Justice Minister Denys Malyuska and from Ruslan Strilets, minister of environmental protection and natural resources, as well as from Vitaliy Koval, head of the state wealth fund.
Stefanchuk shared a photo of the officials’ letter on Facebook, writing that their request would be considered by lawmakers at one of the next parliamentary sessions.
A person close to Kamyshin said he was expected to be appointed to another government position or to a Zelensky administration. Kamyshin was previously the head of Ukraine’s state railway company and was credited with keeping trains running despite the war. He has since taken the lead in reviving domestic arms production.
Zelenskyy also fired the deputy director of the presidential office in charge of economic and energy policy, Rostislav Shurma, according to a decree published on his official website.
Officials told the FT that more cabinet members were expected to resign overnight or early on Wednesday morning.
The changes come after Ukraine’s energy chief Volodymyr Kudrytskyi has been removedBut there were later complaints that his departure was “politically motivated”.
The move raises concerns about the country’s troubled power grid, as Kudrytskyi, who has led Ukrenergo since 2020, is a respected figure in the energy industry. His abrupt departure has been widely criticised by senior lawmakers and analysts.
Several officials expressed concern to the FT that the moves were part of what they saw as Zelenskyy’s efforts to consolidate power within his administration.
