Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Telegram
The Verkhovna Rada has approved the appointment of Yevhenii Khmara as Ukraine’s defense minister. The decision was supported by 312 lawmakers.
The vote breakdown was:
- Servant of the People — 193
- European Solidarity — 16
- Batkivshchyna — 16
- Platform for Life and Peace — 18
- Voice — 13
- Restoration of Ukraine — 12
- For the Future — 13
- Trust — 15
- Independent MPs — 19
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not present during the vote. His representative in parliament, Halyna Mykhailiuk, presented Khmara’s candidacy.
Khmara leaves military service
Khmara is a former general and former head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s Special Operations Center “A.” Under Ukrainian law, the defense minister and deputy ministers must be civilians, with only the first deputy minister position available to active-duty military personnel during martial law.
Khmara therefore resigned from military service before taking the post.
“I stand before you as a civilian. I was discharged in accordance with the Law of Ukraine on Military Duty and Military Service,” Khmara said in parliament.
He identified three main priorities as defense minister: strengthening the frontline and the military, supporting personnel, and developing Ukraine’s defense industry.
Khmara initially opposed leaving military service, according to media reports. Parliamentary efforts to change the law and allow an active-duty officer to head the ministry were ultimately abandoned.
Khmara takes over after a month-long vacancy
Khmara became acting defense minister two hours after former Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko declined the position.
Ukraine had been without a full defense minister for about a month. The previous government was dismissed on July 14, while the new cabinet was approved the following day without candidates being submitted for the defense and foreign affairs ministries.
The appointment comes after former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov was not returned to the post, a decision that triggered protests calling for his reinstatement and for changes in the military leadership.
