Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's top diplomat during the ongoing war with Russia, has resigned from his position on Wednesday as part of an expected change in government leadership.
Alongside Kuleba, two deputy prime ministers, three ministers, and the head of the State Property Fund also offered their resignations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that this leadership overhaul is intended to "give new strength" to Ukraine
“Autumn will be extremely important for Ukraine. And our state institutions must be set up in such a way that Ukraine will achieve all the results we need – for all of us,” Zelensky said on Tuesday, according to The Telegraph. “To do this, we need to strengthen some areas in the government – and personal decisions have been prepared.”
Kuleba played a key role in securing support from Ukraine's allies. He was previously tasked with convincing both the US and the UK to allow Ukraine to conduct long-range missile strikes into Russia. He also led the effort to acquire more Patriot air-defense batteries, though he recently accused several allies of failing to fulfill their promises to aid with these supplies.
Throughout the war, Zelensky has dismissed several high-level officials, a move that, according to Ukrainian political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, is aimed at preventing "stagnation" in Ukrainian institutions.
“He thinks that new people will be more motivated and will bring new ideas,” Fesenko explained, per the Telegraph. However, he also noted that, “In practice, we see that all the decisions are made by the president’s office.”
The personnel changes come as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has escalated. Russia has recently been making gains in Ukraine's Donetsk region, while Ukrainian forces have captured over 500 square miles in Russia’s Kursk region.
