Ukrainian government appoints new deputy defence ministers

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (the Ukrainian government) has appointed Liubov Halan as Deputy Defence Minister and Serhii Boiev as Deputy Defence Minister for European integration.

Source: Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament); Ukraine's Defence Ministry citing acting Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara

Quote from Melnychuk: "The following appointments have been made:

• Liubov Mykhailivna Halan as Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine;
• Serhii Serhiiovych Boiev as Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine for European integration."

Details: The government also dismissed Yevhen Kudriavets, first deputy minister of education and science; Nadiia Kuzmychova, deputy minister of education and science; Maryna Slobodnichenko, deputy health minister for European integration and Ivan Dvoilenko, deputy head of Ukraine's State Migration Service.

The Cabinet also approved the appointment of Serhii Yakymenko as Head of the Kamianske District State Administration in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Update: The Defence Ministry said the appointments were intended to strengthen its work on international cooperation and the development of human capital.

Acting Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara said Serhii Boiev will oversee international affairs. His responsibilities will include cooperation with the EU, NATO and other partners, securing international assistance and funding, arranging arms supplies and developing joint projects and Ukraine's defence industry.

Liubov Halan will oversee the development and retention of human capital within Ukraine's defence forces. Her responsibilities will include military recruitment, service personnel's career development and social protection, personnel training, healthcare and improvements to the regulatory framework governing the rights and duties of military personnel.

For reference: Liubov Halan is a human rights advocate and volunteer. From 2020 to 2022, she worked at the Kyiv School of Economics and the Vostok SOS non-governmental organisation and served as a consultant to the World Health Organization.

Following the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, she co-founded Frontline.Care, a charitable organisation that supports the Ukrainian military. In 2023, she co-founded the Pryntsyp Human Rights Centre with Masi Nayyem and became its head. The organisation supports military personnel and veterans and works to protect their rights.

Serhii Boiev is a Ukrainian government official who previously held senior positions at the Defence Ministry.

He worked at JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse, Boston Consulting Group Ukraine, Ukrgasvydobuvannia and Naftogaz. In 2023, he became deputy minister for strategic industries for European integration and began working at the Defence Ministry in 2024.

Background: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on 16 July that he will propose that Parliament appoint Yevhen Khmara as defence minister. Zelenskyy said Khmara had gained extensive experience conducting technological strike operations and that Ukraine's defence efforts in the war should focus on this area.

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