Zelenskyy backs new acting defence minister because of long-range operations experience and makes no mention of protests in evening address

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has commented on his decision to appoint Yevhen Khmara as acting defence minister, but without making any mention of the mobilisation issues for which he had criticised former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov. The president also said nothing about the protests and public calls to reinstate Fedorov.

Source: Zelenskyy in his evening address

Quote: "Yevhen Khmara will serve as acting Minister of Defence of Ukraine. He headed the SSU's Centre of Special Operations Alpha, which has achieved the most effective results in eliminating the occupiers on the front. Alpha consistently ranks number one in the monthly results.

Khmara was responsible for the long-range operations of the Security Service of Ukraine. We agreed that Khmara will also oversee the long-range operations of the Security Forces – this is a priority.

He knows exactly what Ukraine needs and is also capable of maintaining control over the internal situation across the components of the defence forces. He has sufficient security experience to prevent disgraceful incidents."

Details: Zelenskyy added that he has already discussed the legal procedures required to put the appointment into effect with the new prime minister, Serhii Koretskyi.

Zelenskyy said earlier that it was right that Ukrainian citizens are able to take part in peaceful demonstrations and express their views even during wartime, adding that he had "not yet made a final decision" on the issue they had raised.

Background:

• On 16 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, commenting on the changes at the Ministry of Defence, acknowledged that Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi had been unable to find common ground, and that problems on the battlefield, in brigades and with mobilisation had remained unresolved.
• Zelenskyy later said he had not yet submitted his nomination of Ihor Klymenko for the post of defence minister to parliament, but that he believed the former interior minister capable of dealing with the problem of "shameful busification practices" during mobilisation. [Busification is the controversial practice of forced mobilisation in which recruitment officers detain men in public, often bundling them onto minibuses to transport them to enlistment offices – ed.]
• Later that evening, however, Zelenskyy said he would propose the appointment of Yevhen Khmara as defence minister to Parliament. Khmara, who is currently acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine, will carry out the duties of Ukraine's defence minister on the president's instruction.
• On 16 July, Fedorov said Zelenskyy had not agreed to replace Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, and that all Defence Ministry proposals and initiatives on improving the military's performance had met with resistance.
• Protests in support of Fedorov are taking place near the President's Office in Kyiv and in a number of other cities across Ukraine. The protesters are calling on the authorities to reinstate Fedorov in his post in the new government and not to hand the defence minister post over to Ihor Klymenko.

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