Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) – According to the Ukrainian National News Agency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on the evening of March 2nd that he has decided to nominate First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Fedorov to succeed Shmyhal as Minister of Defense.
Zelenskyy stated that he has decided to change the operational model of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. He pointed out that Fedorov is currently "deeply involved in matters related to drone operations and has been very effective in public services and process digitization," and hopes that he can promote reforms in the defense sector that are beneficial to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy also emphasized that "Shyhal remains a member of our team."
The Kyiv Independent newspaper reported that, according to the Ukrainian constitution, after the president nominates a candidate for Minister of Defense, the nomination must be approved by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) before formal appointment.
The report stated that the 34-year-old Fedorov is one of the few officials who has served in Zelenskyy's team since he entered politics in 2019.
According to other reports, Zelenskyy also made a series of personnel changes on the 2nd: Budanov was removed from his post as Director of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and appointed Chief of Staff of the Presidential Office; Ivasenko was removed from his post as Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service and appointed Director of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.
According to the Kyiv Post, Zelenskyy posted on social media that day that Ukraine needs to "pay more attention to security issues, the development of the Ukrainian defense and security forces, and diplomatic negotiations," and that the Presidential Office will prioritize these areas in its future work. (End)
