Ukraine faces major government reshuffle with war at critical juncture
A major shake-up of the government is under way in Ukraine after at least seven ministers and senior officials resigned and a presidential aide was fired.
Among those who quit or offered to do so late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday were Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, who alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has led the drive to maintain Western support, and Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin, who was in charge of weapons production.
Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna also resigned along with the justice, environment and reintegration ministers as well as the head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund, Vitaliy Koval.
About a third of the positions in the cabinet are now vacant.
Zelenskyy, who was elected in 2019, signalled last week he planned a major reshuffle. He said on Wednesday that Ukraine needs “new energy, and that includes in diplomacy”.
During a news conference in the capital, Kyiv, with visiting Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, Zelenskyy said he could not announce any replacements because he did not know whether the candidates would accept his invitation to join the government.
A decree on the president’s website showed he had also fired Rostyslav Shurma, a deputy chief of staff who handles the economy.
The Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday accepted the resignations of Stefanishyna, Kamyshin and two other ministers.
The session was over for the day and the resignation of Kuleba had not been considered.
The changes come at a critical point in the war with Russian forces advancing on the eastern front. Zelenskyy is due to travel to the United States, a key ally, this month where he is expected to outline his “victory plan” to President Joe Biden.
Challenges
Zelenskyy has ordered several reshuffles since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Last September, he sacked his defence minister amid a series of corruption scandals and more recently replaced the military’s top commander after setbacks on the battlefield.
Russia has been bombarding Ukraine with almost daily drone and missile attacks despite Ukraine’s advance into the Russian border region of Kursk.
Air defence units fought off a Russian drone attack on Kyiv in the early hours of Wednesday.
At least seven people were killed in Lviv, in central Ukraine, in drone and missile attacks on the city’s historic centre.
Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv city, said on Wednesday that three children were among the dead.
At least 51 people were killed and 271 injured on Tuesday after Russia struck a military institute and nearby hospital in the central town of Poltava with two ballistic missiles.
A woman and her son were also killed when a Russian missile hit the hotel where they were staying in the southern Zaporizhia region.
At least five portfolios have been vacant since ministers were fired or resigned earlier this year, including the important agriculture and infrastructure portfolios.
Opposition lawmaker Iryna Herashchenko said: “It’s a government without ministers … an intellectual and personnel crisis that the authorities are closing their eyes to.”
She called for a government of national unity that would end the tight grip on the reins of power held by Zelenskyy’s political team.
Zelenskyy’s elected term ended in May, but he has remained in his post because Ukraine is under martial law.
