Rumors of a reshuffle had been bandied about in Ukraine since early summer. It began on Tuesday, September 3, with a cascade of resignations – which are still to be approved by Parliament – and continued on Wednesday, September 4, with that of Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, a major figure in the government. His most likely successor would be Andrii Sybiha, the first deputy head of the foreign ministry, according to sources in the presidential entourage cited by the media outlet Ukrainska Pravda.

The day before, on Tuesday, six other officials had announced their departure. Among them were ministers Oleksandr Kamyshin, the head of strategic industries responsible for arms production, Denys Maliuska, the justice minister, and Ruslan Strilets, who was in charge of environmental protection and natural resources. The deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration since 2020, Olga Stefanishyna, has also resigned. She could be promoted, and appointed as justice minister and deputy prime minister in charge of European integration, according to a source within the presidential party, Servant of the People, quoted by the media outlet Suspilne News.

After nearly three years in government, the deputy prime minister and territorial integration minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, also announced her resignation on Tuesday evening. "Thank you to the president for your trust!" she wrote on Facebook. "I serve the Ukrainian people!" Ruslan Stefanchuk, the president of the parliament, said he had also received Vitali Koval's resignation as director of the Ukrainian state's real estate fund.

Further changes are expected to come to light. "More than 50% of the members of the government" are set to change, announced Davyd Arakhamia, an influential Servant of the People MP, on Telegram, on Tuesday evening. "Tomorrow [Wednesday] we'll have a day of dismissals, and the day after tomorrow [Thursday] a day of appointments."

'Qualitative reconstruction'

It's the biggest government reshuffle since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022. During his daily video address on Tuesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky explained that the state's institutions "must be set up so that Ukraine achieves all the results that we need" ahead of his planned visit to the US in September, where he is expected to present a "victory plan" to US president Joe Biden. "We must strengthen some areas in the government, and personnel decisions have been prepared," he added, while also mentioning changes to the presidential cabinet.

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