Ukraine's parliament voted on Thursday to appoint nine new ministers, including the foreign minister and two deputy prime ministers, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought to breathe fresh life into his administration with the war against Russia poised for what could be a pivotal phase.
Andrii Sybiha, a former ambassador to Türkiye, is the country’s new chief diplomat. He replaced Dmytro Kuleba, who became one of Ukraine's most recognizable faces on the international stage as he petitioned and pleaded with Western countries to support Ukraine's war effort.
Sybiha, 49, has been working as Kuleba's deputy since April. He had served as Ukraine's ambassador to Ankara between 2016 and 2021, just before the start of the current war.
Zelenskyy has sought to replace almost a dozen top officials in his biggest government shake-up since Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022.
Though foreign policy is unlikely to change much with Zelenskyy playing the leading role in wartime foreign affairs, it comes at a delicate diplomatic moment as Kyiv is pressing its allies for more help and seeking to win over the Global South.
Zelenskyy, who travels to the United States this month and hopes to present a "victory plan" to President Joe Biden, has said that his government needed "new energy" and that this autumn will be important for Ukraine.
The shakeup began on Tuesday when several ministers stepped down. At least five cabinet seats had already been vacant after earlier sackings. Zelenskyy proposed a set of replacements and lawmakers signed off on them on Thursday.
Dmytro Razumkov, an opposition lawmaker, predicted the appointments would not lead to major changes. Most decisions, he said, were ultimately made in Zelenskyy's office, which was conferred considerable emergency powers under martial law.
Olha Stefanyshina, 38, was named in charge of a broader portfolio that combines her former role overseeing Ukraine's accession to the European Union and NATO military alliance with those of the justice minister, who stepped down this week.
She said in a speech to lawmakers before her appointment that "hundreds and thousands" of legal changes were needed for Ukraine to become a member of the European Union.
Stefanyshina spent most of her professional life working to integrate Ukraine with the West and get rid of its post-Soviet legacy.
In the early years of her career, she worked at the Justice Ministry, laying the legal groundwork for closer EU-Ukraine cooperation.
Herman Smetanin, a former engineer, was appointed the strategic industries minister in charge of domestic arms production.
Smetanin, 32, is the youngest minister in the cabinet and his appointment is more evidence of a rapid rise through the ranks that began last year when he was made head of the main state arms holding, UkrOboronProm.
During that period, weapons and ammunition production increased. He also spearheaded a corporate governance reform to increase transparency at the state giant.
At the start of the invasion, he worked in his native city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, about 30 km from the Russian border, as the director of one of the Ukrainian tank factories.
Oleksiy Kuleba was named deputy prime minister in charge of reconstruction, regions and infrastructure, an important portfolio that involves oversight of potentially huge financial streams.
Kuleba served as a deputy head of Zelenskyy's office overseeing regional policies from January 2023. That job involved coordinating ties between regional authorities and the military to build fortifications and support the development of mobile anti-drone groups across Ukraine.
In the first year after Russia's invasion, Kuleba served as the regional governor of the Kyiv region that surrounds the capital.
'Let off some steam'
Lawmakers also signed off on new ministers for agriculture, culture, environment, veteran affairs and sport.
Vitaliy Koval, who headed the State Property Fund, Ukraine's main privatization agency from November 2023, has been named as agriculture minister.
Prior to that, he was the governor of the Rivne region in western Ukraine. Koval, 43, also worked in the private sector, serving in various senior positions in banking, transport and agriculture.
The shakeup creates a sense of political renewal even though Ukraine cannot hold elections under the terms of martial law.
"People are against holding elections right now so the only way to refresh the authorities and 'let off some steam' is to change officials in the government," Anton Hrushetskyi, executive director of the Kyiv-based pollster KIIS told Reuters.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said: "The new ministers face difficult tasks, but I'm sure their experience and skills will help in the implementation of our state's strategic goals."
The war, more than 900 days long, is on the cusp of what could be a key period.
A likely hard winter lies ahead, testing the country’s resolve. Ukraine’s power grid is under severe strain after Russian missiles and drones knocked out around 70% of the country’s generation capacity. That could mean going without heat and water.
On the battlefield, Ukraine is waiting to see whether the military’s gamble with its surprise thrust into Russia’s Kursk border region a month ago pays dividends. Meanwhile, outgunned Ukrainian soldiers are gradually being pushed backward by Russia’s monthslong drive deeper into eastern Ukraine, and Ukrainian civilians are at the mercy of Russia’s deadly long-range aerial strikes.
The casualty list from a strike Tuesday on a military training school in Poltava grew to 55 dead and 328 injured, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said Thursday. A search and rescue operation was continuing.
Sybiha, the new foreign minister who also previously worked in the president’s office, takes on the role as Ukraine endeavors to prevent war fatigue from eroding the West’s commitment.
Kyiv officials will also have to navigate the result of the U.S. election in November, which could produce important policy shifts in Washington.
Zelenskyy has said his team is preparing several important meetings with foreign partners in September to try to ensure Kyiv recaptures the initiative in the war.
In his latest evening address to the nation, he said the current priorities were securing supplies of air defenses from the West, improving the situation on the battlefield, and getting foreign help to rebuild his country.
He is expected to take part on Friday in a meeting of the Ramstein group of nations that supplies arms to Ukraine, Germany's Der Spiegel media outlet reported.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on allies to lift restrictions that ban Kyiv from using Western weapons for long-range strikes into Russia. Some Western leaders are reluctant to grant that because they fear an escalation that could drag them into the fighting.
Top U.S. military leaders, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet in Germany on Friday to discuss those issues with European allies.
Zelenskyy hasn't shrunk from major decisions that risk alienating senior officials and perplexing the public.
In February, he replaced his top general in a shake-up aimed at reigniting battlefield momentum, and the then-defense minister Oleksii Reznikov quit a year ago, after Zelenskyy said that he would be replaced and named his successor.
Other key appointees
Below are some of the other key appointees in the Ukrainian cabinet reshuffle, which was completed on Thursday.
Natalia Kalmykova, a doctor by education, has been named as minister for veterans.
Kalmykova, 37, was a deputy defense minister from September 2023. Prior to that, she headed Ukraine's Veterans Fund and worked at Come Back Alive, one of the largest Ukrainian charity organizations.
Svitlana Hrynchuk will serve as environment minister.
Hrynchuk, 38, was a deputy energy minister from September 2023. She was also a deputy environment minister for several months in 2022.
Prior to that, she was an adviser to the finance minister and headed a working group in the ministry of energy on environmental protection and climate change.
Mykola Tochytskyi, a career diplomat, is taking the helm of the culture and strategic communications ministry.
Tochytskyi, 56, was a deputy head of Zelenskiyy's office overseeing foreign policy from April 2024. He earlier served as Ukraine's ambassador in Belgium and Luxembourg and was also Ukraine's representative in the Council of Europe.
David Arakhamia, head of Zelenskiyy's parliamentary faction, has said Ukraine needs to step up its efforts to combat disinformation and that a person with foreign policy experience was needed for that.