Parallel to the difficult situation in Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s war of aggression, an unprecedented government restructuring is underway in Kiev. Kremlin chief Putin is likely to comment again on his invasion.
In Ukraine, the restructuring of the government announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky parallel to the fight against the Russian war of aggression is continuing. After Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba submitted his resignation, a decision on the matter is still pending in parliament – the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv.
The 49-year-old former Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha is being discussed as a possible new chief diplomat of Ukraine, as the Kyiv news portal “Ukrajinska Pravda” reported, citing the presidential party “Sluha Naroda” (“Servant of the People”). Formally, the Rada must vote on the resignation.
While some of the former ministers and senior officials who had resigned from their posts are moving to new government positions, Kuleba’s future is unclear. The former deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, announced that she would become deputy head of the presidential administration. She will also be responsible for social issues in the future.
Olha Stefanishyna, who was dismissed after a request to resign, is again set to become deputy head of government for EU and NATO integration and will also be given the Ministry of Justice. The Rada had previously accepted the resignation of Justice Minister Denys Maljuska.
Party: Selenskyj at meeting on government restructuring
Overall, around half of the ministerial posts are to be filled and some departmental structures are to be changed, it is said. For example, the Ministry for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories will be dissolved as an independent authority. Its responsibilities will be transferred to the Ministry for the Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine. Other key ministries such as the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense are not affected by the restructuring.
According to the report of “Ukrainska Pravda”, the proposals for the major restructuring of the cabinet were agreed in the middle of the war at a meeting of the presidential party chaired by Rada faction leader David Arachamija. According to Arachamija, President Zelensky was also present at the party meeting. The head of state justified the government restructuring by saying that the country needed a fresh start. “We need new energy today,” said the head of state.
In his evening video message published in Kiev, Zelensky did not say a word about the unprecedented reorganization. Critics believe the restructuring is a smokescreen and propaganda designed to feign change and distract from the failures in the fight against the Russian invasion. The problems with the energy supply caused by the constant Russian attacks on the infrastructure are also causing the population’s dissatisfaction with their own leadership to grow.
President insists on goals of Kursk offensive
Zelensky announced that the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Oleksander Syrsky, had again informed him about the situation at the front. In his video message, the President stressed that the Ukrainian invasion of the Russian Kursk region, which began on August 6, was particularly successful. “It is very important that absolutely all of the goals set for the Kursk operation are also implemented,” said Zelensky. He once again emphasized that, above all, the stock of Russian prisoners of war had been replenished for the next prisoner exchanges.
According to the report, Syrskyj also informed about the situation in the contested eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Zelenskyj did not provide any details. However, military observers, both independent and those of the respective warring parties, report that Russian troops are continuing to advance in the region. According to the report, a calculation by the military leadership in Kiev that Moscow would withdraw troops en masse from Ukraine to defend its own region of Kursk and thus take the pressure off the Ukrainian armed forces has not yet worked out.
In contrast, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia would destroy the “bandits” in the Kursk region, restore order and still achieve its war aims in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry is now reporting daily territorial gains and the capture of towns in the Donetsk area.
The Ukrainian army is under pressure, particularly in Pokrovsk – the city is a strategically important railway junction. The authorities have ordered an evacuation in the city. However, more than 20,000 people are said to still be there.
What will be important on Thursday
More than two and a half years after the start of his war of aggression against Ukraine, Kremlin chief Putin is also likely to comment on the invasion once again. The president, who ordered the attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, will give a speech at a plenary session at the economic forum in Vladivostok on the Pacific. Putin had described the Kursk offensive as insignificant for the course of the war. The government reshuffle in Kyiv will also have no consequences for the fight, it was said in Moscow.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
