MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. The Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) voted to appoint Andrey Sibiga and Yevgeny Khmara as the country’s foreign minister and defense minister.

TASS has compiled the key information about the reshuffle.

- The Verkhovna Rada voted to appoint Andrey Sibiga as Ukraine’s foreign minister.

- A total of 266 lawmakers voted in favor, according to footage from the live broadcast of the parliamentary session.

- The decision needed 226 votes.

- Sibiga was appointed Ukraine’s foreign minister in September 2024.

- On July 14, he was dismissed along with the entire government headed by former Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko.

- Later, Vladimir Zelensky instructed Sibiga to temporarily carry out his duties as foreign minister.

- The Verkhovna Rada voted to appoint Yevgeny Khmara as defense minister.

- A total of 312 lawmakers backed the decision, with 226 votes required.

- On July 14, Mikhail Fyodorov was dismissed as Ukraine’s defense minister, in part due to a conflict with Alexander Syrsky, who was serving as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces.

- Khmara assumed the ministry as acting defense minister.

- He participated in Ukraine’s so-called anti-terrorist operation in Donbass and served as acting chief of the Security Service of Ukraine.

- Protests against Fyodorov’s dismissal as defense minister started in Ukrainian cities on July 16.

- Ukrainian politicians and media attributed his dismissal to Zelensky removing a political rival in the person of Fyodorov, who has support from liberal circles in the West.

- Protesters gradually began demanding not only Fyodorov’s return but also Syrsky’s removal.

- Amid the protests, Zelensky said he had offered Fyodorov a different position in the government.

- According to Zelensky, the proposed position would help "unite Ukraine’s technological component" and ensure its development.

- Later, Verkhovna Rada lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said Zelensky had offered Fyodorov the position of deputy prime minister for military technologies or an adviser in the presidential office.

- On July 31, Ukrainian lawmaker Maryana Bezuglaya said that Zheleznyak, single-member constituency lawmaker Igor Vasilyev and she had sent Zelensky an official letter asking him to reinstate former Defense Minister Fyodorov.

- The protests have continued for 34 days, former Fyodorov adviser Sergey Sternenko said on his Telegram channel, where he posted footage of the demonstrations.

- A protest was also held outside the Verkhovna Rada building in Kiev on Tuesday morning.

- Several dozen young people held cardboard signs demanding Fyodorov’s return to office.