Zelensky Announces Leadership Shuffle as War Turns in Ukraine’s Favor
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s prime minister, Yuliia Svyrydenko, would step down amid a broader shake-up in Ukraine’s senior leadership.
Yuliia Svyrydenko, prime minister of Ukraine, at at her office in Kyiv, Ukraine, in September.
By Andrew E. Kramer
Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine
July 12, 2026, 10:51 a.m. ET
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday a shake-up of his top leadership, including the dismissal of the prime minister, in a personnel overhaul that comes as momentum in the war has shifted in Ukraine’s favor.
Mr. Zelensky said the personnel changes were needed to focus the government’s work on high-priority foreign and domestic policies, including relations with the United States, membership talks with the European Union, securing sufficient supplies of weaponry for the army, and supporting cities and towns near the front line.
“Ukraine is changing its political strategy,” Mr. Zelensky said in a statement about the overhaul. He said he would designate an official to oversee each priority policy.
Mr. Zelensky said that Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, a 40-year-old former minister of economy who had led a team of mostly young politicians in Mr. Zelensky’s government, would step down as prime minister.
“The Cabinet of Ministers needs to be renewed,” Mr. Zelensky said.
In the statement, he did not mention any other personnel changes. Earlier, Mr. Zelensky had said he planned changes in the diplomatic service in order to focus diplomacy on securing military supplies from allies. In the statement, he said he would also replace leaders of law enforcement agencies.
Political analysts will be watching two popular generals seen as potential rivals for the presidency in postwar elections, both of whom now work in Mr. Zelensky’s administration.
General Kyrylo Budanov, a former director of military intelligence, is currently chief of staff, and General Valery Zaluzhny is ambassador to Britain. Whether Mr. Zelensky keeps them inside the administration, and in which capacity, will partly define Ukraine’s postwar political lineup.
Mr. Zelensky said he would work with Parliament, which must approve ministerial changes, on the overhaul. Mr. Zelensky’s political party, Servant of the People, holds a majority in Parliament but has sometimes struggled to pass legislation or win confirmations, as lawmakers don’t always vote along party lines.
Mr. Zelensky last reshuffled the cabinet in July 2025, after a year and a half of gradual losses along the front line and as Ukraine suffered electrical blackouts as Russia hammered the country’s power grid.
He has replaced individual ministers in scandals over mismanagement and corruption, including a minister of national unity and minister of energy who were implicated by anti-corruption investigators in a kickback scheme.
The current political reshuffle comes after a shift in the tide in the war. Ukraine’s strategy of fighting with drones both on the front line and to hit targets deep in Russia is yielding results.
The Russian army is enduring huge casualties from exploding drones. U.S. and Ukrainian officials estimate about 30,000 of its soldiers a month are killed or injured just to maintain a mostly static front line. Russia is making slow gains in the eastern Donbas region but some months has a net loss of territory as Ukraine advances elsewhere.
Ukraine is also mass producing long-range exploding drones that have incapacitated about a quarter of Russia’s oil refining capacity. Ukraine claimed to have struck more than 90 ships in the Sea of Azov in the past week, in what would be a major security lapse for Russia in the sea.
Stas Kozliuk contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine.
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Andrew E. Kramer is the Kyiv bureau chief for The Times, who has been covering the war in Ukraine since 2014.
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Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine
-- Life in Moscow: An eerie limbo prevails at small art shows, independent theaters and private political
clubs, where the war in Ukraine is the elephant in the room.
-- Russia’s Shaky Finances: As oil prices fall back to levels not seen since before the Middle East war began, the Kremlin will be forced to confront a deepening budget deficit.
-- Police Raids on Ukrainian Drone Maker: The raids targeted a military contractor and its owner, who also co-owns a news outlet that recently exposed abuse of soldiers. Journalists said it was no coincidence.
-- Fighting Far from the Front Lines: Ukraine’s military has denied a Kremlin claim to have taken a city in the eastern Donetsk region, saying its troops are holding out against infiltrating Russians.
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