ukrainian government "major adjustments"
2024-09-05
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the deputy prime minister, foreign minister, minister of strategic industries, minister of environmental protection and natural resources... many senior ukrainian officials submitted their resignations on the 3rd and 4th.
alahamia, chairman of the parliamentary group of the ruling servant of the people party of ukraine, said that the government is expected to make "major adjustments" this week and more than half of the cabinet members will be replaced. when asked about the reorganization, ukrainian president zelensky replied on the 4th that his government needs "new vitality" and "these measures are related to strengthening our country's strength in various fields." western media analysis said that this is one of the largest government reorganizations in ukraine since the outbreak of the russian-ukrainian conflict in february 2022. the reorganization comes at a time when kiev is facing increasingly severe challenges, the russian army is advancing, and the prospects for western military aid are unclear. zelensky urgently needs to boost the outside world's confidence in the ukrainian government. russia's "viewpoint" quoted the country's experts as saying that "such a large-scale change in the crisis may seriously disrupt the operation of the system that is already in emergency mode."
this is the beginning of the ukrainian government's "reorganization" before the winter comes
according to the ukrainian newspaper kyiv independent on the 4th, the chairman of the ukrainian verkhovna rada (parliament) stefanchuk announced on the social platform that day that ukrainian foreign minister kuleba had submitted his resignation to the parliament. he said that the issue of kuleba's possible resignation will be "deliberated at an upcoming plenary meeting."
according to reports from reuters and the kyiv independent, the 43-year-old kuleba is ukraine's most well-known representative overseas after zelensky. he has served as ukraine's foreign minister since march 2020, and has met with leaders around the world since the outbreak of the russian-ukrainian conflict, using "fluent english" to win military and political support for ukraine. there were rumors that kuleba would be dismissed in august last year, but he said in the media that he was not worried about this possibility.
regarding who will replace kuleba, ukrainian pravda reported on the 3rd, citing a source from the ukrainian presidential office, that it is currently under consideration. the most likely candidate is ukraine's first deputy foreign minister serbiga.
on the 3rd, several ukrainian senior officials submitted their resignations to the verkhovna rada, including deputy prime minister stefanishina, who is in charge of european and euro-atlantic integration affairs, deputy prime minister and minister of temporary reintegration of occupied territories vereshuk, minister of strategic industries kamyshin, minister of justice malyuska, minister of environmental protection and natural resources strilets, and director of the state assets fund koval. according to the ukrainian presidential website, zelensky also dismissed shulma, deputy director of the presidential office in charge of economic affairs.
from top to bottom, they are stefanishina, vereschuk, kuleba, kamyshin, malyuska and strelets who submitted their resignations.
reuters quoted an ally of zelensky as saying that this was the beginning of the "reorganization" of the ukrainian government before the winter, and more resignations and appointments are expected in the coming days. the report said that the ukrainian verkhovna rada is expected to vote on these resignations later on the 4th local time, and the new appointments are likely to be approved as early as the 5th.
on the 4th, the ukrainian verkhovna rada (parliament) voted to remove kamyshin, stefanishina, malyuska, and strilets from their posts. the vote to remove vereshuk and kovali from their posts failed. in addition, the vote on kuleba's resignation was postponed.
"zelensky has ordered personnel adjustments several times since the outbreak of the ukrainian crisis." agence france-presse said that in 2023, after a series of corruption scandals were exposed, zelensky decided to remove defense minister reznikov from his post. in early 2024, after suffering setbacks on the battlefield, zelensky replaced the commander-in-chief of the ukrainian armed forces. reuters said that together with the ministers who were dismissed earlier this year, this round of resignations of senior ukrainian officials will leave a large number of vacancies in the ukrainian government cabinet.
russian media: western involvement is not ruled out
the website of russia today tv stated on the 3rd that since the outbreak of the russian-ukrainian conflict, zelensky has regularly "purged" senior military and political officials. usually, "purges" are preceded by heavy losses on the battlefield. the latest data from the russian ministry of defense shows that in the weeks before the 3rd, ukraine's cross-border offensive against russia's kursk region came to a standstill, and the ukrainian army lost more than 9,300 soldiers and nearly 750 armored vehicles. at the same time, the russian army has made rapid progress in donbass, and the hub city of pokrovsk is now "within reach."
the ukrainian website of the kyiv independent quoted merezhko, chairman of the verkhovna rada's foreign policy committee, as saying on the 4th that this was an expected major reorganization. ukraine is currently facing a difficult period, and the reorganization may be related to the challenges facing ukraine in the new stage. the ukrainian news website "strana.ua" analyzed on the 4th that the large-scale personnel adjustments of the ukrainian government and other institutions may be based on the current difficulties on the ukrainian front line, the serious problems after the attack on ukraine's energy infrastructure, and the corruption scandals in the ukrainian military and political departments. its main purpose may be "public relations", pushing the relevant responsibilities to some officials to show ukrainian society that the ukrainian president is aware of the problem and is therefore carrying out a "power reorganization."
a russian news website reported on the 4th that it is not ruled out that the west participated in ukraine's decision to make relevant adjustments, and it also shows how ukraine can make changes that meet the needs of the west under difficult circumstances. the analysis of the russian izvestia website specifically mentioned that kuleba has repeatedly shown an overly tough and even offensive attitude towards european partners and leaders on various occasions. this adjustment may mean that ukraine's foreign policy and image will change. ukraine hopes that the new foreign minister can play a better role in winning western military aid.
according to us media reports, zelensky will visit the united states later this month to discuss the "victory plan" formulated by ukraine with us president biden. according to russia's "imperial city" tv station, russian political scientist markov believes that zelensky is trying to show his determination to fight corruption before going to washington, which may be to leave a good impression on the us. the trip to the united states is of great significance to zelensky. he hopes to obtain long-range missiles from the united states so that he can attack important targets in russia such as moscow and st. petersburg.
kuleba may go to brussels
reuters said zelensky and his political team may move to fill vacancies to restore domestic order before traveling to the united states to attend the un general assembly this month.
a source close to the ukrainian presidential palace told afp that zelensky and kuleba "will discuss and decide" the latter's future position. rbc-ukrainian news agency quoted a source as saying on the 4th that kuleba may be appointed as the head of an important ukrainian foreign agency, especially in brussels, belgium. in addition to the ukrainian representative offices to the eu and nato, there are also ukrainian embassies in belgium and luxembourg. the source said that considering that ukraine is actively integrating into the eu and nato, this direction must be greatly strengthened.
in addition, the ukrainian national public broadcasting corporation quoted sources as saying that deputy prime minister stefanishina's previous duties mainly revolved around ukraine's accession to the european union and nato, and she may be appointed as the head of a larger department. kamyshin, 40, said on social media that he would continue to work in the defense department, but in a different position.
chesnakov, director of the russian center for the study of the political situation, told the newspaper viewpoint, "when there are so many new appointments, the risk of mistakes increases. people will suddenly realize that the problem is not with the personnel, but with structural flaws in the system."
xiao xinxin, special correspondent of global times in russia; liu yupeng, special correspondent of global times
