Ukrainian parliament fails to approve defence and energy ministers

The Ukrainian parliament has failed to appoint a new defence minister in the midst of the war with Russia, as there were not enough supporters for the candidacy of Mykhailo Fedorov.

The 34-year-old previously headed the Ministry of Digitalization, which was established in 2019.

Fedorov would have been the fourth defence minister since the Russian invasion in February 2022. His candidacy was submitted by President Volodymyr Zelensky and must be proved by parliament in accordance with the constitution. Another attempt is expected on Wednesday.

The appointment of former defence minister Denys Shmyhal as the new energy minister also failed, against the backdrop of massive power and heating outages. Shmyhal was 16 votes short of confirmation.

He had previously been dismissed as defence minister, a post he held for less than six months. Before that, he served as prime minister for more than five years. The 50-year-old is considered loyal to Zelensky.

Parliament did agree one move on Tuesday. The head of the SBU intelligence service, Vasyl Maliuk, was relieved of his duties. He had effectively led the agency since 2022.

During his time in charge, the SBU carried out several spectacular attacks on Russian military bases. Several senior military officials have opposed Zelensky’s plan to move Maliuk on.

The parliamentary defence committee only gave its approval on the second attempt.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion with Western support for nearly four years. Allegations of corruption have led to attempts to reshuffle the government.