The Verkhovna Rada has appointed Denys Shmyhal, who previously held the position of Prime Minister, as Minister of Defense in the new government of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. This was announced by the MP from the Holos faction Yaroslav Zhelezniak on the Telegram channel, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"The Minister of Defense….will be Denys Shmyhal. Before that, he worked as the Prime Minister of Ukraine))). In favor - 267," he said.
Thus, 267 MPs voted for the relevant resolution No. 13496 on the appointment of Shmyhal as Minister of Defense, with a minimum of 226 votes.
49-year-old Shmyhal held the position of Prime Minister from March 4, 2020 to July 16, 2025.
Verkhovna Rada appoints Shmyhal as Minister of Defense. Photo: Telegram Zaliznyi Nardep
Until February 2020, he was the Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Community and Territorial Development.
In August 2019 - February 2020, he held the position of Head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Administration.
Previously, Shmyhal was the head of the Burshtyn Thermal Power Plant (Ivano-Frankivsk Region).
He also worked as Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Revenues and Duties in the Lviv Region and Head of the Economy Department of the Lviv Regional Administration.
As Ukrainian News Agency reported, earlier on Thursday, July 17, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Yulia Svyrydenko as the new Prime Minister, who held the position of First Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Economy in Shmyhal's government.
On July 16, the Verkhovna Rada accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. According to the Constitution, the resignation of the Prime Minister entails the resignation of the entire Cabinet of Ministers.
Zelenskyy announced on July 15 that he intends to propose to the Verkhovna Rada to appoint Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal as Minister of Defense instead of Rustem Umerov. Umerov served as Minister of Defense from September 2023 to July 16, 2025.
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