Zelensky launches major government reshuffle, replacing PM and likely defense minister

First published in Deník N.

Ukraine is set to have a new prime minister and likely a new defence minister. President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly demonstrated that he is not afraid to make changes—even to arrangements that appear to be functioning well. So far, all his interventions have worked in his favour.

Over the weekend, news from Zelensky stirred the public not only in Ukraine: the cabinet reshuffle is already a done deal. The country will receive a new prime minister and new ministers, and the changes will also affect key security portfolios.

The End of the Prime Minister

Initial expert commentary has been cautious. Yet even analysts concede one thing about the Ukrainian leader: the energy with which he continues to run the country during wartime. His fearlessness in making unexpected changes remains undiminished.

The explanation for Zelensky’s latest steps, however, was not particularly detailed this time. He stated that he wants true experts in all positions—as if that had not been the case until now.

"Ukraine is changing its political strategy. Each priority area of foreign policy will be assigned to a specific person with substantial experience who is capable of implementing what we agree on at the leaders’ level and what the Ukrainian people expect," Zelensky explained on 12 July.

This reshuffle comes less than a year after he installed Yulia Svyrydenko as prime minister. Her cabinet will therefore likely not celebrate its first anniversary on 17 July.

According to the Ukrainian service of the BBC, whose journalists spoke to unnamed sources in the president’s office, such a fundamental change had been under consideration "for some time."

Zelensky had been expressing dissatisfaction particularly with the ministries of justice, education, and digitalisation.

From Prime Minister to Diplomat, From Director to Chief of Staff

The biggest surprise came from a confirmation by the prime minister herself, who admitted she had been offered another position—apparently as ambassador to the United States.

That is undoubtedly the most important diplomatic post for Ukraine, even though the role of head of mission will be entirely different from Svyrydenko’s previous responsibilities. She will not shape foreign policy but will act as a logistics coordinator and organiser of meetings between politicians, especially presidents.

"I remain ready to serve Ukraine," she wrote on Facebook.

She will most likely be able to do so: the current Ukrainian ambassador, Olha Stefanishyna, has announced her departure "for personal reasons."

According to well-known Ukrainian MP Olexander Honcharenko, Stefanishyna is already back in Kyiv, and anti-corruption bodies are preparing charges against her. Like Svyrydenko, she did not last even a year in office.

Although Svyrydenko was clearly among Zelensky’s favourites, she had recently been repeatedly targeted by MPs—allegedly for failing to communicate with them and for promising the International Monetary Fund the impossible. There had been no public speculation about replacing her in the top post.

Who will replace her as prime minister is not publicly known, but several names are being whispered.

The leading candidate is said to be a man who knows everything about Ukraine’s energy sector—its weaknesses and strengths—which will likely be the central topic of the autumn phase of the war, as Russia attempts to cripple Ukraine’s energy grid. Sergii Koretskyi, the director of Naftogaz, is considered by many experts to be a successful leader.