Zelenskyy tasks Yevhenii Khmara with serving as acting defence minister
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will nominate Yevhenii Khmara for the post of Ukraine’s defence minister. Before doing so, he tasked Khmara with serving as acting minister.
The president announced this on social media, Censor.NET reports.
It should be noted that Khmara previously served as acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and, before that, headed the SSU’s Alpha Special Operations Centre.
Details
"I believe that, under the current circumstances, proven effectiveness in long-range capabilities, genuinely strong security work that will ensure control over the internal situation within the components of the Defence Forces, and hands-on experience managing personnel at the Alpha Special Operations Centre of the Security Service of Ukraine should also become advantages in the post of Ukraine’s defence minister," Zelenskyy wrote.
According to the president, Yevhenii Khmara has gained extensive and, in many respects, unprecedented experience in conducting technology-driven strike operations. Zelenskyy stressed that this is what Ukraine’s defence should focus on in this war.
"Of course, we will continue implementing all active programmes to develop and strengthen our Defence Forces, from direct funding for combat brigades and the fair allocation of personnel among brigades to maximising supplies of UGVs and all types of drones and promptly implementing agreements with our partners. I have tasked Yevhenii Khmara with serving as acting minister, continuing the reform of the defence sector and delivering all the results for Ukraine that we discussed. Once the necessary legal procedures have been completed, I will ask parliamentarians to support Yevhenii Khmara for the post of Ukraine’s defence minister," Zelenskyy added.
As a reminder, MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak previously reported that First Deputy Defence Minister Oleksii Vyskub would temporarily head Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence following Mykhailo Fedorov’s resignation.
New Cabinet of Ministers and Fedorov’s resignation
- On July 14, the Verkhovna Rada supported a resolution on the resignation of Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. The entire Cabinet of Ministers automatically resigned with her.
- On July 15, Mykhailo Fedorov said that he was stepping down as head of the Defence Ministry.
- Before that, several media outlets and MPs reported that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wanted to replace him with Ihor Klymenko, the incumbent interior minister.
- Rallies in support of Mykhailo Fedorov were held in Dnipro, Rivne, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Cherkasy and other cities. Participants are protesting against his resignation.
- On July 16, the Verkhovna Rada voted to appoint the new Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Serhii Koretskyi is Prime Minister.
