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Within days, Zelensky has fired his cabinet, ousted his defense minister, and is now replacing his security council chief

Source: Volodymyr Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered Ihor Klymenko, the former interior minister, the post of secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC). A decree formalizing the appointment is already being prepared, Zelensky said.

The NSDC is currently headed by Rustem Umerov, whose next position has not been announced. As NSDC secretary, Umerov serves as Ukraine’s lead representative in negotiations with the United States and Russia, among other roles.

Before that, Umerov led the country’s Defense Ministry. His tenure there connected him to one of Ukraine’s most high-profile corruption cases in recent years — the Enerhoatom case — in which he was questioned as a witness.

On July 14, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed the government led by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, setting off a series of personnel changes in the cabinet.

Klymenko had previously been mentioned as a candidate for defense minister. On the evening of July 16, Zelensky announced he would nominate Yevhen Khmara, the chief of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), to head the Defense Ministry instead.

Before that, Mykhailo Fedorov led Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. He was not reappointed following a conflict with Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. His dismissal sparked protests across Ukraine.

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