Who's who in Ukraine's government after its first full wartime reshuffle
Denys Shmyhal (R) and Yulia Svyrydenko (L) smile in the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 16, 2025. (Andrii Nesterenko / Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Politics
The Ukrainian government was formally dissolved on July 16, marking the first full reshuffle during Russia's full-scale invasion. A day later, the new Cabinet of Ministers was voted in.
Yuliia Svyrydenko, until very recently Ukraine's first deputy prime minister, was nominated by President Volodymyr Zelensky to replace Denys Shmyhal, the longest-serving prime minister in the country's history.
The change comes at a critical moment for Kyiv, as it continues to wrestle with Russian aggression while trying to navigate its transforming — and at times tumultuous — relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Yet, even as the parliament approved Svyrydenko and her new Cabinet on July 17, the government has retained many of the old faces. This includes Shmyhal himself, demoted to Ukraine's defense minister.
Several high-profile figures didn’t make it to the new government, however, embroiled in corruption investigations or facing scrutiny over poor managerial prowess.
Yuliia Svyrydenko
Prime Minister
Svyrydenko, a 39-year-old economist from Chernihiv, has become Ukraine's second female prime minister in history, and the first since Yuliia Tymoshenko's tenure 15 years ago.
Zelensky announced her nomination on July 14, a move experts attribute to both her experience and proximity to the Presidential Office.
"She is a protege of the head of the Presidential Office (Andriy Yermak), and is fully loyal to the Presidential Office," Ihor Reiterovych, a political analyst and commentator, told the Kyiv Independent.
Svyrydenko's political career began in her home region, where she briefly led the Chernihiv Regional Administration in 2018. By the following year, she was on the fast track in Kyiv, rising through the ranks of the Economy Ministry and later serving as deputy head of the Presidential Office.
Since November 2021, Svyrydenko had served as the first deputy prime minister and economy minister, steering Ukraine's economy throughout the full-scale Russian invasion.
More recently, she came into the spotlight for leading the difficult and long-running negotiations with Washington over a strategic minerals deal — a move seen as vital to partnership with the U.S.
Svyrydenko "has relevant experience, having worked in the government for a long time and overseen a key area — economic relations with the United States," Reiterovych said, adding that she had long been groomed for the post and was "practically the only viable candidate."
Denys Shmyhal
Defense Minister
Shmyhal, Zelensky’s second prime minister, is stepping down after more than five years in office, having led the government throughout the Covid pandemic and Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The 49-year-old politician and manager was offered a key position in Svyrydenko's new Cabinet as head of the Defense Ministry, replacing Rustem Umerov.
Describing Shmyhal as a moderately successful head of government, Reiterovych called him "the least independent prime minister in Ukraine’s history, readily carrying out the wishes of the Presidential Office and the president personally."
"And it’s precisely why he’s now being appointed to the Defense Ministry: a personally loyal bureaucrat with considerable management experience," the expert added.
The president has repeatedly stressed the defense sector — namely a hike in domestic arms production — as a primary focus of the new government.
Born in Lviv, Shmyhal built his career as a manager in private companies and regional administration. His rise began in 2019 when Zelensky appointed him the governor of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.
Only a year later, he joined the government and replaced Oleksii Honcharuk — Zelensky's first prime minister — as its head in February 2020.
Mykhailo Fedorov
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Transformation
Mykhailo Fedorov, 34, Ukraine's youngest Cabinet member, was named the new first deputy prime minister while retaining his leadership of the Digital Transformation Ministry.
A native of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Fedorov began his career as an entrepreneur, founding the digital services agency SMMStudio in 2013. He ran the digital side of Zelensky’s brisk election campaign in 2019.
Following Zelensky’s election, Fedorov was appointed Zelensky's advisor and elected to parliament on the Servant of the People party list.
Fedorov was named the deputy prime minister and digital transformation minister later the same year, being tasked with creating a so-called "state in a smartphone" to modernize and digitize public services.
His flagship project, the Diia application, which provides citizens with access to various government services, has gathered over 20 million users and received acclaim at home and abroad.
Fedorov adapted his focus to Ukraine's wartime needs after 2022, overseeing key initiatives like the United24 crowdfunding platform and efforts to integrate advanced technologies like AI and drones in Ukraine's Armed Forces.
Taras Kachka
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration
Taras Kachka, 46, Svyrydenko's former deputy, has been appointed as the new deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, replacing Olha Stefanishyna.
Kachka, born in Kirovohrad Oblast, is an economist with broad experience in the public sector and international organizations. He began his civil service path as a specialist at the Justice Ministry in 2001.
Between 2014 and 2015, he was vice president and interim president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, and later worked as an advisor at the International Renaissance Foundation, a Kyiv-based NGO founded by billionaire George Soros.
After five years as an advisor at the Foreign Ministry, Kachka became Ukraine's deputy economy minister and trade representative in 2019.
As Svyrydenko's deputy, Kachka led negotiations with Poland between 2023 and 2024 during a dispute over agricultural trade and border blockades.
Herman Halushchenko
Justice Minister
In one of the more controversial appointments, Herman Halushchenko was named the new justice minister after his four years as the head of the Energy Ministry.
As the energy minister, Halushchenko was responsible for keeping Ukraine's power infrastructure operational amid waves of Russian aerial strikes and the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
While the country has so far weathered Moscow's attempt to knock out the country's energy grid, Halushchenko's tenure nevertheless drew scrutiny.
The former energy minister's critics have accused Halushchenko's department of "systemic corruption," lack of transparency, and failure to sufficiently protect key infrastructure sites. A group of opposition lawmakers even filed a motion to dismiss him in January.
Halushchenko, a native of Lviv, has a background in law and public service, having worked across several government bodies, including the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, and the Presidential Administration.
He also served as vice president of the state-owned nuclear energy company Energoatom from 2020 to 2021 before his appointment as the energy minister.
Svitlana Hrynchuk
Energy Minister
Svitlana Hrynchuk, replacing Halushchenko as the energy minister, has a lower profile in the media than some of her other colleagues.
A 39-year-old native of Chernivtsi, Hrynchuk is an expert in finance, economy, and ecology. She started her career in civil service in 2015 as a government specialist on environment and agriculture.
A year later, she was tasked to lead a climate change department at the Ecology Ministry and oversaw the implementation of international climate agreements. Her resume also includes an expert role at the World Bank, and she worked as an advisor on environmental matters to Zelensky and the finance minister.
Hrynchuk was appointed as Ukraine's ecology minister in 2024, replacing Ruslan Strilets amid a broader government reshuffle.
Oleksii Soboliev
Minister for Economy, Ecology, and Agriculture
Former First Deputy Economy Minister Oleksii Sobolev will be the first to oversee a department created by merging the Economy, Ecology, and Agriculture ministries.
Born in Kyiv in 1983, Sobolev built his career in the financial and investment sector, working as a portfolio manager at Dragon Capital, one of Ukraine's leading financial groups.
He began his path in civil service in the era of post-EuroMaidan reforms, focusing his work on transparency and governance of state enterprises.
After working as an adviser at the Infrastructure Ministry between 2015 and 2016, he became the project lead of the Prozorro project, an online auction platform aimed at strengthening transparency in state procurement and property management. Sobolev was Prozorro's CEO between 2018 and 2023.
In 2023, Sobolev was named deputy economy minister for digital development and transformation and promoted to first deputy economy minister the following year.
Denys Uliutin
Minister for Social Policy, Family, and Unity
Denys Uliutin, until recently serving as the first deputy finance minister, was named as the head of the new Ministry for Social Policy, Family, and Unity.
This new department was formed as the merger of the Social Policy Ministry and the new National Unity Ministry, which oversees relations with the Ukrainian diaspora.
Oleksii Chernyshov, a former deputy prime minister who previously led the National Unity Ministry, is under investigation for corruption and was not offered a position in Svyrydenko's cabinet.
Uliutin has over 20 years of experience in civil service, starting his career at the State Tax Administration.
After working in the prime minister's office, Uliutin entered the Finance Ministry in 2016 and was appointed the first deputy prime minister four years later.
Who stays, and who's out?
Svyrydenko's cabinet includes many ministers who kept the jobs they had under Shmyhal.
This includes some of the most high-ranking figures, namely Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, and Oleksii Kuleba, the deputy prime minister and minister for communities and territories.
Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko, Veterans Affairs Minister Nataliia Kalmykova, Education Minister Oksen Lisovyi, Health Minister Viktor Liashko, and Youth and Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi have also retained their posts. A successor to Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi has not yet been named.
Some big names are absent from the new Cabinet, however. Rustem Umerov, who had served as the defense minister since September 2023, was not offered a ministerial post.
Umerov’s appointment two years ago raised hopes for more transparent and effective leadership following major corruption scandals in the ministry. However, he soon fell short of expectations. Ukrainian activists dubbed him "the minister of chaos," citing poor management, weak authority, and stalled reforms.
Despite signals that he might be nominated as the new ambassador to the U.S., this option seems off the table now. Ukrainian media reported that Umerov may head Ukraine's Security Council instead.
Instead of Umerov, former Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Justice Minister Olha Stefanishyna was appointed as the envoy to the U.S., pending Washington's approval for a full ambassadorial position.
Stefanishyna, an influential figure in Shmyhal's Cabinet, faces corruption charges in a years-old case from her time as a lower-level Justice Ministry official. She has denied any wrongdoing.
As the Strategic Industries Ministry is being dissolved and its responsibility transferred to the Defense Ministry, its head, Herman Smetanin, is also leaving the cabinet. He will reportedly return to his old job as chief of the state-owned defense conglomerate Ukroboronprom.
Note from the author:
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