Jul 12, 4:02 PM
Zelenskyy resets the cabinet as Kyiv prepares for another political turn
The Ukrainian president says a new prime minister will soon be appointed, with Yuliia Svyrydenko moving to a different role after only a short stint in office.
Kyiv has found another reason to reorganise itself. On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would soon have a new prime minister and a new cabinet, presenting the move as part of a change in political strategy rather than a routine personnel shuffle, which in wartime is never quite routine anyway.
The outgoing prime minister, Yuliia Svyrydenko, discussed the matter with Zelenskyy, according to his post on X. He said the changes required a renewal of the Cabinet of Ministers and thanked her for what he called clear, steady and effective work. Zelenskyy also said he had offered her a new and important role in relations with a key partner, though he gave no further details.
Svyrydenko, who was appointed prime minister in 2025, wrote separately that she was proud of her work in office and remained ready to serve the Ukrainian state. That is the diplomatic language of transition, which usually means the real decisions have already been made elsewhere.
Any cabinet reshuffle in Ukraine still needs parliamentary approval. In practice, that is unlikely to be a serious obstacle: since Russia's invasion began in February 2022, lawmakers have largely backed Zelenskyy and do not usually block his agenda. The formal vote matters, of course, but mostly because constitutions have a habit of insisting on procedure even when politics has moved on.
The timing is not accidental. Local authorities in the Dnipropetrovsk region said Russian attacks overnight killed at least three people. Separately, Yaroslav Shanko, head of the Kherson City Military Administration, said one person was killed in a drone strike on Kherson.
On Monday, leaders of Ukraine's allies in the so-called Coalition of the Willing are due to meet in Paris to discuss how to end the war. So Kyiv is changing ministers, the fighting continues, and the diplomatic calendar keeps moving. The new prime minister, once named, will inherit not only a reshuffled cabinet but also the familiar burden of trying to make politics look like control.
Written by Martina Kirchner martina.kirchner@alpineweekly.com
