Ukrainian parliament votes to accept resignations of senior ministers but fails to confirm new roles

The Ukrainian parliament voted to accept the resignation of two senior members of the country’s government on Tuesday, though it stopped short of voting to confirm their appointments to new roles for which they were nominated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Verkhovna Rada announced on Friday that Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal and First Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov had tendered their resignations, both of which must be accepted by the country’s unicameral parliament.

In parliamentary votes on Tuesday, Shmyhal’s exit was supported by 265 deputies, and Fedorov's by 270. Fedorov was put forward by Zelensky as his nomination for defence minister on 3 January amid a wide-ranging reshuffle which included the appointment of Kyrylo Budanov, formerly the head of military intelligence, as his chief of staff.

The Verkhovna Rada also voted to accept the dismissal of the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Vasyl Malyuk, with 235 deputies voting in favour. Zelensky has since appointed Major General Yevhen Khmara, who previously headed the Alpha special forces unit, which has been responsible for a campaign of drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and major military installations, as acting head of the SBU.

However, in a blow to Zelensky, Fedorov received insufficient parliamentary support to be confirmed as Ukraine’s new defence minister, receiving 206 votes, 20 short of the 226 required. Though Shmyhal fared slightly better in his quest to be confirmed as Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister and energy minister, he also fell 16 votes short of the required total of 226.