Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s nomination for defence minister, former deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov, was confirmed by Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday, just a day after his candidacy received insufficient parliamentary support, news outlet RBC-Ujraine has reported.
In a second vote in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s unicameral legislature, Fedorov’s confirmation was supported by 277 deputies, far exceeding the 226 votes required, just 24 hours after he received 206 votes in the initial confirmation vote.
Addressing the Verkhovna Rada beforehand, Fedorov pledged that if confirmed, he would order audits of the Defence Ministry, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ukraine’s military recruitment centres, and stressed the need for radical change to the country’s military establishment, according to RBC-Ukraine.
“Our aim is to change the system: to carry out reform within the army, improve infrastructure on the front line, root out lies and corruption, and to create a new culture of trust and leadership,” news agency UNIAN quoted Fedorov as saying.
Fedorov replaces Denys Shmyhal, whom Zelensky nominated to be his first deputy prime minister and energy minister. Like Fedorov, Shmyhal failed to secure the required number of votes to be sworn into his new position on Tuesday. However, earlier on Wednesday, the Verkhovna Rada also confirmed Shmyhal in both roles, with 248 deputies voting in favour of his appointment.
Part of a wide-ranging reshuffle in the upper echelons of the Zelensky government, other new appointments included that of Kyrylo Budanov, formerly the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, as his chief of staff. Zelensky has also appointed Major General Yevhen Khmara, who previously headed a special forces unit, as acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine after the dismissal of its previous director, Vasyl Malyuk.