Zelenskyy Replaces Defence Minister, Names Energy CEO as PM
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- Zelenskyy endorsed Naftogaz CEO Sergii Koretskyi as Ukraine's new prime minister, telling reporters the choice was driven by the need to prepare for a winter of expected Russian strikes on the power grid.
- Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, credited with boosting drone procurement and a data-driven strategy of exhausting Russian forces during his six-month tenure, will be replaced by Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
- Outgoing PM Yulia Svyrydenko was pushed out after just one year on the job, triggering the resignation of the entire government; parliament is expected to vote on her successor on Thursday.
- Drone warfare advocate Maria Berlinska called the defence shake-up "one of President Zelenskiy's biggest mistakes," warning the price would be "the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of people."
- Foreign Affairs Committee chair Oleksandr Merezhko said Fedorov was "highly respected amongst our international partners" and that his name was tied to hopes for genuine Defence Ministry reforms.
- The reshuffle lands as Russia grinds toward Ukraine's eastern "fortress belt" in Donetsk and Ukraine faces a shortage of U.S.-designed interceptors against escalating ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv.
Why it matters: Ousting Defence Minister Fedorov—a reformer praised by international partners—arrives as Russia grinds toward Donetsk's fortress belt and another winter of power-grid strikes approaches, an episode Reuters notes threatens to dent the parliamentary and public trust Zelenskyy needs to sustain wartime leadership. With Fedorov's NATO-standard Defence Ministry overhaul incomplete and interceptors still scarce, the reshuffle removes the official most identified with Ukraine's reform trajectory.
