Ukraine's foreign minister resigns as government reshuffle expected

Dmytro Kuleba is the most senior of the ministers to step down this week

Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba has stepped down from his role as part of a wide-ranging reshuffle of the Ukrainian cabinet.

Several Ukrainian officials also resigned from their posts on Tuesday, leaving some of the government's top jobs vacant, including the strategic industries minister in charge of weapons production.

The parliamentary leader of the ruling Servant of the People party said half of the cabinet would be changed in a major government reshuffle this week.

Mr Kuleba, who is the most senior of the ministers to resign, has been in post since March 2020.

MP Inna Sovsun told the BBC there were "no questions" about Mr Kuleba's efficiency and that she was not aware of any disagreements between him and President Volodymyr Zelensky.

However, Ms Sovsun said that in the absence of parliamentary or presidential elections which have been suspended due to martial law, "reshuffling the government is the best way to bring in new people, new ideas into the government which are very badly needed at the moment".

Those who handed in their resignations on Tuesday included strategic industries minister Alexander Kamyshin, justice minister Denys Maliuska, environmental protection minister Ruslan Strilets, deputy prime ministers Olha Stefanishyna and Iryna Vereshchuk, and the head of Ukraine's State Property Fund, Vitaliy Koval.

One of the president's most senior aides, Rostyslav Shurma, was also dismissed by presidential decree.

David Arakhamiya, the parliamentary leader of the ruling Servant of the People party, confirmed on Telegram that a "major government reset" would see more than half of the Cabinet of Ministers' staff changed, and that Thursday would be a "day of appointments".

During his nightly video address on Tuesday, President Zelensky said state institutions "should be configured so that Ukraine achieves all the results that we need".

"For this, we must strengthen some areas of the government and changes in its make-up have been prepared. There will also be changes in the [president's] office," he said.

Opposition MP Iryna Gerashchenko criticised the government's reshuffle, stating that this is "a government without ministers. A parliament without a mono-majority. An intellectual and personnel crisis to which the authorities turn a blind eye."

She called for a unity government and the end of President Zelensky's political team's grip on power.

President Zelensky has revamped his government several times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In May last year, he fired defence minister Oleksii Reznikov after a series of corruption scandals, and then sacked Kyiv's top commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi earlier this year.

At least five government portfolios, including the infrastructure and agriculture portfolios, have remained vacant since ministers either stepped down or were dismissed earlier this year.

Mr Zelensky's first presidential term was due to end in May 2024, but he remains in his position under martial law.

The reshuffle coincided with Russia's continued bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

On Tuesday, a Russian strike on the central city of Poltava killed 53 people and injured a further 271, while on Wednesday seven people were killed in Ukraine's western city of Lviv.