The resignation of the year and appointment of a new Cabinet: why Zelenskyy is removing Fedorov from the Defence Ministry
On the evening of 15 July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived late for a meeting with the Servant of the People faction.
This time the reason was not the president's customary disregard for parliamentarism as such, or for particular MPs in the faction that took its name from Zelenskyy's TV series.
Prior to the meeting, Zelenskyy had had a long and difficult conversation with Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the last remaining member of Oleksii Honcharuk's first government, who up until now had remained an integral part of Team Zelenskyy – although both the team name and most of its leaders and ideals have long faded into oblivion.
In six years, Fedorov had gone from being a marketer who pushed his way into Zelenskyy's team to the architect of the "state in a smartphone" concept, a long-time generator of the most positive news stories for Zelenskyy, and later one of the key reformers of Ukraine's defence sector.
After Andrii Yermak resigned as head of the President's Office, Fedorov was among the leading contenders for the post. But Zelenskyy did not dare appoint him – Fedorov's reform ideas were too radical. Rebooting the State Bureau of Investigation, introducing a competitive selection process for the prosecutor general, replacing all the deputies in the President's Office – those were just a few of the sweeping changes he was proposing.
Instead, Fedorov was sent to the Ministry of Defence, as he was the only person who "had a vision of the war". Zelenskyy believed Fedorov would act with greater caution and restraint at the Defence Ministry. It turned out he had no intention of doing so.
Mass purges of personnel, shifting procurement to open tenders, a strict audit of defence contracts, a reluctance to automatically approve all General Staff requests, attempts to move military planning to automated algorithms and mathematical models instead of traditional "manual control" – all of this quickly turned the Ministry of Defence into a hotbed of conflict within the military-political leadership.
On one side stood Fedorov's team, trying to build a technologically advanced army; on the other, the General Staff and the team of Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who has been steadily shaping a smaller, more traditional Soviet-style army.
A clash between the two models was almost inevitable – and it happened within months. By early summer, the conflict had pretty much entered an open phase, and meetings of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff had turned into constant verbal clashes between ministry representatives and the military.
And eventually the generals gave Zelenskyy an ultimatum: it was either them or Mykhailo Fedorov's team.
To a large extent it was these conflicts that led to the fall of the Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko's Cabinet on 14 July. The resignation of the entire government provided a convenient opportunity to "deal with" the rebellious Fedorov.
In fact, after the Cabinet's dismissal on 14 July, the most intriguing question was not who the next prime minister or most of the other ministers would be, but whether Zelenskyy would include Fedorov in the new government.
The Servant of the People MPs would not learn the answer until the evening of 15 July, when Zelenskyy turned up at the faction meeting and announced that Fedorov would not be in the new Cabinet of Ministers.
Ukrainska Pravda has discovered why Zelenskyy decided to sacrifice one of his closest allies, why he chose to preserve the current military status quo instead of pressing ahead with reforms, and who will ultimately take the key posts in the new government.
A president without Fedorov
"It was clear the president found this very difficult to talk about," said one Servant of the People MP who attended the meeting. "For about ten minutes he was struggling to find the words, choosing his phrasing, trying to explain his decision. It seemed rational, but it was obvious that dismissing Fedorov was not easy for him."
In reality, there was very little uncertainty for MPs regarding the new prime minister and most of the future ministers.
They already knew half of the names in advance, as they were already ministers. The first time they saw the other half was, as always, during the presentation itself.
The only issue the faction was really concerned about was what was going to happen to Fedorov – and that was the first question that MPs raised.
According to Ukrainska Pravda's sources, Zelenskyy explained that he could no longer tolerate the ongoing conflict between the defence minister and Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
"They live in two different worlds," one MP quoted Zelenskyy as saying. "Misha [Mykhailo Fedorov – ed.] wants to digitalise everything and build a system around technology. The military just want to be listened to. They request one type of weapons procurement, and he refuses and funds other areas. They simply stopped listening to each other."
Another source recalled an even sharper exchange.
"It was getting ridiculous. Syrskyi would come in and say: 'Fedorov isn't providing anything for specific operations.' Then Fedorov would come in and reply: 'We provided everything – they're just using it wrong, in the wrong way and in the wrong place.' And it would go round in circles."
In other words, Zelenskyy tried to get across to the MPs that his main motive was to somehow balance the relationship between the army and the government.
"I can't allow the Defence Ministry and the General Staff to be fighting each other while the country's at war. Ideally both of them should be replaced. But I can't do that at the same time," Zelenskyy told the MPs.
Zelenskyy also stressed that Fedorov had failed to deliver the mobilisation reform he had promised, and that then-interior minister Ihor Klymenko, whom Zelenskyy plans to nominate as the new defence minister, would be able to "sort out" the system for recruiting Armed Forces personnel.
"Zelenskyy said that if Putin announces major mobilisation on 23 September, there will be no time for jokes or digital reforms. Mobilisation needs to be sorted out before then," one Servant of the People MP quoted the president as saying.
Overall, the president found himself caught between two competing visions of how the war should be fought – a conflict sharpened by the discontent of dozens of arms industry clans that are being squeezed out of the defence budget – and took the decision to preserve the rules of the game within the current military command structure.
The same people who as recently as last autumn surrendered the initiative on the battlefield to Russia had convinced the president that winning the war required dismissing the minister under whom Ukraine regained that initiative.
And of course, Zelenskyy made that "difficult decision" with a heavy heart.
Read more: Zelenskyy's government reshuffle: Svyrydenko out, Koretskyi in the Cabinet, questions over Fedorov
What changes will take place in the Cabinet?
Once the president and MPs had settled the Defence Ministry question, they could have a serious discussion about the broader picture of the government reshuffle. During the day, Verkhovna Rada (parliamentary) factions had had the opportunity to meet with PM candidate Serhii Koretskyi and ask him about his vision for the government's actions.
At the Servant of the People faction meeting, MPs were introduced to the nominees for positions in Zelenskyy's fourth Cabinet of Ministers.
Ukrainska Pravda sources within Servant of the People say National Police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi is the frontrunner to replace Klymenko as interior minister.
Vyhivskyi is a career police officer who has been in the system since the early 2000s. He served in Mykolaiv and Poltava oblasts and headed the National Police's Main Directorate in Kyiv.
The Cabinet appointed Vyhivskyi as chief of the National Police on 14 July 2023. Now the police general could find himself among those doing the appointing. However, Zelenskyyy admitted at his meeting with the MPs that he had not yet had a final conversation with Vyhivskyi, so it remains unclear whether he will take over as interior minister.
Last year, Svyrydenko's government created a genuine economic giant when they merged the Economy, Environment and Agriculture Ministries. Svyrydenko's quota candidate to lead the new ministry was Oleksii Sobolev.
Following Svyrydenko's resignation, the ministry is to be split again – into the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Agriculture. Sobolev could have stayed on as economy minister, but at the last minute, another option emerged.
"Oleksii had cover in the form of Svyrydenko and control over three ministries. Now Yuliia is gone, the ministry will be reorganised. On top of that, the new prime minister needs 'his own' minister. Sobolev didn't want to stay in the government as a figurehead, which is why he didn't cling onto the post," a Servant of the People source explained to Ukrainska Pravda.
Zelenskyy told MPs at the meeting that Sobolev would be moving to the President's Office as Budanov's deputy for economic matters – a position that has been vacant since the dismissal of Rostyslav Shurma.
The leading candidate for the post of economy and environment minister is Oleksandr Kravchenko, managing partner of the Kyiv office of international consulting firm McKinsey & Company. According to an Ukrainska Pravda source in Team Zelenskyy, Kravchenko is the only nominee to a government position who has been put forward by incoming prime minister Serhii Koretskyi.
At the faction meeting on the evening of 15 July, the president told MPs and the candidates present in the room that he had not even had time to interview the prospective economy minister. Kravchenko was sitting not far from the president, and he introduced himself from his seat: "I'm here." That is how they met.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food is to be headed by the current deputy economy minister, Taras Vysotskyi. He has worked continuously at the ministry since 2019 and even served as acting agriculture minister from May to September 2024.
Prior to working for the government, Vysotskyi spent almost 10 years at the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club Association, initially as an agricultural markets expert and later as its director general.
Another ministry is to undergo reorganisation: the Ministry for Restoration will be split into two separate ministries. Former deputy prime minister and Andrii Yermak protégé Oleksii Kuleba will not be returning to a ministerial post following the parliamentary vote on 16 July.
The Ministry for Community and Territory Development will most likely be headed by Servant of the People MP Vitalii Bezhin.
During the 2019 election campaign, Bezhin entered the Servant of the People party list under the quota of former prime minister Oleksii Honcharuk. Shortly before launching his political career, he had worked as a communications and design expert at Honcharuk's Office of Effective Regulation.
In parliament, Bezhin chairs the subcommittee on administrative and territorial organisation. This year he became the deputy leader of the Servant of the People party responsible for work concerning the temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons.
The portfolio of minister for recovery, infrastructure and transport is expected to go to Mykola Kalashnyk, the current head of Kyiv Oblast State Administration. From 2013 onwards, he held various positions within the Darnytskyi District State Administration in Kyiv. In December 2024, he moved to Kyiv Oblast State Administration and was appointed its head in March 2025.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation is set to be headed by Oksana Ferchuk, Deputy Defence Minister for Digital Development. She has spent over 25 years in senior roles across the telecommunications, logistics and digital services sectors. Among other positions, she served as director of the Nova Poshta group of companies and the delivery company Justin. She also launched and developed the Vchasno electronic document management service.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion, Ferchuk became an adviser to the patronage service of Ukraine's defence minister. In that role, she oversaw the implementation of the Armed Forces' medical information system and a logistics management system for the military.
At the Ministry for Veterans' Affairs, Nataliia Kalmykova is expected to be replaced by Vitalii Kim, Head of Mykolaiv Oblast State Administration and one of the country's most high-profile regional leaders. According to Ukrainska Pravda sources within the government, Kim's appointment was backed by Davyd Arakhamiia, leader of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction.
Bringing Kim onto the national political stage as a fully fledged player could strengthen the standing of the regional governance project being championed by Arakhamiia.
Kim has headed Mykolaiv Oblast State Administration since November 2020. Before going into politics, he was involved in business and managed several construction companies.
Besides Kim, other close allies of Arakhamiia with ties to the Servant of the People faction could once again become ministers, as has often been the case in the past. They include the aforementioned Vitalii Bezhin, as well as Servant of the People MP Denys Maslov, who has chaired the Verkhovna Rada's Legal Policy Committee since 29 July 2022 and is now expected to fill the justice minister vacancy.
Before going into politics, Maslov headed several law firms and served as a judge at the Dniprovskyi District Court in the city of Kamianske between 2016 and 2018.
"We were trying to persuade Denys to take over at the Justice Ministry right there at the faction meeting," one Ukrainska Pravda source recalled. "The president said: 'I wanted to appoint Maslov, but he turned it down. So, Denys, are you going to do it after all?' He was reluctant because Zelenskyy hadn't once met with him or had a proper conversation with him since Halushchenko was dismissed. But they managed to reach an agreement on the eve of the vote. Denys agreed."
Ukrainska Pravda sources within Team Zelenskyy said that if Maslov had refused to make the move from parliament to government, the justice minister post would have gone to another regional leader – Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration.
Taras Kachka, former deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, is expected to replace Vsevolod Chentsov as Ukraine's new representative to the European Union. Chentsov is set to return to Ukraine to take up the post of deputy prime minister for European integration.
Chentsov is a seasoned diplomat who has risen through the ranks of the diplomatic service from attaché and third secretary to ambassador. Between 2007 and 2011, he served as deputy head of Ukraine's Mission to the EU. He then headed the Foreign Ministry's EU Department until 2017 before being appointed Ukraine's ambassador to the Netherlands. In 2021, he became Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the EU.
Education and Science Minister Oksen Lisovyi is set to lose his post. He has been at odds with members of parliament over a contentious reform aimed at consolidating educational institutions. Parliamentary sources told Ukrainska Pravda that they dubbed Lisovyi "Doctor Death"long ago.
Parliament is expected to appoint Andrii Butenko, Head of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, as the new education minister.
Deputy Education Minister Mykola Trofymenko was originally the frontrunner.
"But there was a potential risk with Trofymenko – something to do with his PhD thesis," one Servant of the People representative told Ukrainska Pravda on condition of anonymity. "So they started looking around for other options and found an old acquaintance of the speaker's who heads the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance. There don't appear to be any obvious risks, and the decision had to be made within a day."
The following ministers are expected to retain their positions in the new government: First Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal; Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy Tetiana Berezhna; Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha; Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko; Health Minister Viktor Liashko; Youth and Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi; and Social Policy Minister Denys Uliutin.
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Prime Minister-designate Serhii Koretskyi is a businessman, manager and technocrat. He has led major companies, but he's never worked in the civil service. It's hard to say whether he fully understands how the machinery of government works.
Koretskyi's strengths are his creativity, energy and communication skills, according to Ukrainska Pravda sources in political and business circles. They say he has the ability to inspire people and motivate teams. But will that be enough to run the government?
Even those who have worked with Koretskyi wonder whether the successful CEO can quickly become a successful politician. After all, running a corporation and navigating high-level politics – let alone during a full-scale war – are very different things.
By Anhelina Strashkulych and Roman Romaniuk, Ukrainska Pravda
Translated by: Anastasiia Lipara, Yelyzaveta Khodatska and Anna Kybukevych
Edited by: Teresa Pearce