Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada is expected to hold a decisive vote Wednesday on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s nominees for defense minister and foreign minister, ending months of uncertainty over two of the government’s most critical positions. Zelensky is expected to formally submit Major General Yevhenii Khmara for defense minister and Andrii Sybiha for foreign minister on Tuesday, Aug. 18, as parliament returns from its summer recess, according to deputies Oleksiy Honcharenko and Yaroslav Zheleznyak. The Conciliation Council announced that candidates would meet with party members on Tuesday ahead of the Wednesday vote.
Constitutional Hurdle
Khmara has served as acting defense minister since July 20 and is credited as the architect of Operation Spider’s Web, the strike that destroyed roughly a third of Russia’s strategic aviation fleet. But Ukrainian law bars serving military officers from the post: Article 15 of the law “On National Security of Ukraine” requires the defense minister to be a civilian. Khmara remains an active-duty major general, and The New Voice of Ukraine reports he will have to formally leave the armed forces before the Rada can confirm him. “Whether he wants to or not, he’ll have to,” a parliamentary source told the outlet, adding that people close to Khmara say he is not eager to give up his commission.
Fedorov’s Ouster Still Reverberates
Khmara’s nomination follows the abrupt dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov, who lost the defense portfolio on July 16 after only six months in office. The move triggered street protests in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Dnipro, with more than a thousand demonstrators rallying in the capital alone, according to Al Jazeera. Public trust in Fedorov climbed from 38 percent to 50 percent over the six months before his removal, per a Kyiv Institute of International Sociology survey.
“We still gotta bring back Fedorov,” said Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a veteran and protest organizer who has led rallies against the dismissal, warning the demonstrations would turn indefinite if the demand went unmet.
Diplomatic Continuity
Sybiha’s nomination is seen as far less contentious. He has held the foreign minister post since September 2024, and his renomination signals Zelensky wants continuity in Ukraine’s diplomatic messaging as it pushes for a Patriot missile production deal with Washington and works to keep European backing steady. Both the defense and foreign ministry seats fall under the president’s quota and were left unfilled in the broader July Cabinet reshuffle pending Tuesday’s formal submissions, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
Wednesday’s vote will determine whether Ukraine keeps a battlefield commander at the helm of its defense ministry mid-war, or forces a civilian handover that Khmara’s own allies say he is reluctant to accept. Candidates are expected to face parliamentary committees on Wednesday morning before the full floor vote, according to Kyiv Post.
Sources: Kyiv Post; Interfax-Ukraine; The New Voice of Ukraine; Al Jazeera.
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