Ukrainian prime minister to step down as Zelensky announces government reshuffle
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has stepped down as President Volodymyr Zelensky announced fresh changes to Ukraine’s government.
In a statement on social media, Ms Svyrydenko said she was “proud to have had the honour of leading the government during one of the most difficult periods in Ukraine’s modern history”.
She also said she had discussed “next steps” with Mr Zelensky, but did not provide further details.
“I remain ready to serve the Ukrainian state and carry out every task aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s position, defending our national interests and bringing a just peace closer,” she said.
Ms Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s former economy minister, was named prime minister in July 2025 at the age of 39 after playing a lead role in securing a mineral agreement between Ukraine and the US, seen as an important way of tying US interests to Ukraine’s security.
Mr Zelensky announced her resignation in a post saying that Ukraine was “changing its political strategy”.
He also said he had offered Ms Svyrydenko the opportunity to lead “a new, important area” in Ukraine’s relations with a key international partner.
“Each priority area of foreign policy will be assigned to a specific person with substantial experience who is capable of implementing what we agree on at the leaders’ level and what the Ukrainian people expect,” Mr Zelensky said, describing the impending reshuffle.
The Ukrainian leader also said there would be changes among the top ranks of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies.
Mr Zelensky met with a series of senior officials following the announcement, including energy minister Denys Shmyhal, interior minister Ihor Klymenko and defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
The overhaul, which Mr Zelensky has yet to explain in detail, would be the fourth major reorganisation of his government since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Mr Zelensky, who has remained in office under martial law because wartime elections are prohibited, has periodically reshuffled his government in an effort to bring fresh momentum to his administration.
Elsewhere, a Ukrainian attack in south-west Russia killed one person and wounded three more, local officials said on Sunday, as Kyiv’s forces continued to bombard Russia’s oil facilities.
The head of Russia’s Samara region, governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said that a child was among the injured.
Meanwhile, the governor of Russia’s Rostov region, Yuri Slyusar, said that a tanker had been damaged in a drone attack in the Azov-Black Sea maritime canal.
The tanker was empty and there was no threat of an oil spill, Mr Slyusar said.
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