From general to civilian: Khmara agrees to leave military service to head Defence Ministry – Ukrainska Pravda

Roman Romaniuk, Наталя Боднар, Тетяна Кривішин, Anastasia Prots — 18 August, 18:13

Yevhenii Khmara. Photo: Ministry of Defence on Facebook

Yevhenii Khmara, acting Defence Minister of Ukraine, has agreed to leave military service in order to meet legal requirements stipulating that only a civilian can head the Ministry of Defence.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda article "A general in a civilian post: how Khmara may head Defence Ministry after Fedorov and what trick is being prepared for this" (translation coming soon)

Details: Sources told Ukrainska Pravda that Khmara has agreed to leave military service and will likely enter the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) vote on his appointment as defence minister as a civilian.

Khmara, a serving officer holding the rank of general, had previously been firmly opposed to leaving military service. Ukrainska Pravda has learned that the President's Office has managed to persuade him to change his decision.

Before Khmara's decision to leave the service, various options were considered that would have allowed him to be appointed minister while remaining a serviceman. A source said that Servant of the People faction leader Davyd Arakhamiia attempted last week to push through legislative changes that would enable a serviceman to head the Defence Ministry, but this idea was later abandoned.

Quote from the source: "Davyd was running around with this amendment last week – they wanted to change the law so that a serviceman could be defence minister. They tried to find a way to attach it somewhere, but then it all suddenly went quiet, and now no one's talking about any amendment."

For reference: Under Ukrainian law, only a civilian may hold the post of defence minister. Khmara is a Ukrainian military commander and a major general in the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU).

Background:

On 12 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Cabinet of Ministers needed to be reshuffled and announced changes among the heads of law enforcement agencies. On 14 July, the Verkhovna Rada approved the resignation of Yuliia Svyrydenko as prime minister. The decision meant the resignation of the entire government.
Public discontent has grown over what many regard as the unjustified dismissal of then defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Since 16 July, protests have been held in cities across Ukraine: protesters have been calling for him to be reinstated.
Zelenskyy has offered Fedorov a number of other posts, which he turned down, saying he wants to focus his efforts on continuing the reform of the Ministry of Defence.
The Ukrainian president has temporarily put Yevhenii Khmara in charge of the Ministry of Defence. After Vasyl Maliuk's resignation, Khmara had served as acting head of the SSU.
On 18 August, Zelenskyy submitted a nomination to parliament for Yevhenii Khmara to be appointed defence minister and Andrii Sybiha to be appointed foreign minister.

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