Ukraine’s Prime Minister confirms she is stepping down as a Cabinet shake-up begins

Ukraine is heading into a government reshuffle: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a renewal of the Cabinet of Ministers on 12 July, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram, and Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko confirmed she is leaving the post. The President tied the shake-up to an updated political strategy for the war's demands. Parliament could vote on the change within days.

A new strategy, a new government

"Ukraine is changing its political strategy," Zelenskyy wrote. 

A specific, experienced person will answer for every priority direction, he said, naming the United States and the Patriot license deal, a European anti-ballistic project, EU membership, relations with Poland and Hungary, and preparation for winter, when the Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities are likely to escalate as they did every previous winter. 

"We determined that the changes require a renewal of the Cabinet of Ministers," the President added, thanking Svyrydenko and offering her "a new significant direction in relations with a key partner."

Svyrydenko confirmed the departure the same day. 

"I am ready to continue serving the Ukrainian state and carrying out tasks aimed at strengthening Ukraine's positions, protecting national interests, and bringing a just peace closer," she wrote.

She has led the government for almost a year, since 17 July 2025. Several MPs say her new post may be Ukraine's embassy in Washington, though officially the role stays unnamed. The President also promised changes among the heads of law enforcement agencies.

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The Naftogaz chief leads the race

Lawmakers name four candidates for the premiership: Naftogaz and Ukrnafta chief Serhii Koretskyi, First Vice PM and Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, and Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov. Opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak called Koretskyi the favorite. Sources of RBC-Ukraine, including in the President's Office, agree.

Koretskyi took over loss-making Ukrnafta in 2022 and turned it into one of Ukraine's most profitable companies. In spring 2025, he became head of Naftogaz with the state gas company's storage nearly empty — and steered it through the hardest winter. If appointed, he becomes Ukraine's third prime minister of the full-scale war. Zheleznyak says the Rada may vote on dismissing the Premier as early as 13–14 July, after which the government works in acting status, likely under Shmyhal's interim leadership.

Meetings with ministers and a mayor

Alongside the announcement, Zelenskyy published reports on one-on-one meetings with Koretskyi, Shmyhal, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, Fedorov, and Terekhov — each with public praise for results. Such a string of individual audiences is not an ordinary day in Kyiv. On the eve of a reshuffle, every man in those chairs needed a message: assurance that he stays, or word that he moves.

The timing follows the President's evening address on 11 July, announcing the coming personnel changes on diplomatic fronts over the slow delivery of agreed weapons support.