Decision will be made today on appointing Khmara as acting defense minister, - Office of President
A decision on the appointment of Yevhen Khmara as acting Minister of Defense of Ukraine is expected this afternoon, July 17.
This was announced by Dmytro Lytvyn, the Ukrainian president’s communications adviser, according to Censor.NET, citing Interfax-Ukraine.
What is known
"Regarding Khmara: decisions on this will be made this afternoon... Because the main factors determining the course of events right now are long-range capabilities and middle strikes, and Khmara is really good at that," Lytvyn noted.
He also announced upcoming personnel changes among the deputy foreign ministers.
"Sybiha has already met with the president today; there will be further changes among the deputy foreign ministers—they discussed future plans," the adviser said.
Background
As a reminder, the day before, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he would nominate Yevhen Khmara for the position of Ukraine’s Minister of Defense. Prior to that, he had tasked Khmara with serving as acting head of the Ministry of Defense.
The new Cabinet and Fedorov’s resignation
- On 14 July, the Verkhovna Rada approved a resolution on the resignation of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. The entire Cabinet automatically resigned along with her.
- On 15 July, Mykhailo Fedorov announced that he was stepping down as head of the Ministry of Defence.
- Prior to this, a number of media outlets and MPs had reported that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wanted to replace him with Ihor Klymenko — the current Minister of the Interior.
- Rallies in support of Mykhailo Fedorov took place in Dnipro, Rivne, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Cherkasy and other cities. Participants are protesting against his resignation.
- On 16 July, the Verkhovna Rada voted to appoint a new Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The Prime Minister is Serhii Koretskyi.
