Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is leaving his post as part of a major government reshuffle after two and a half years of war.
The 43-year-old career diplomat took over the Foreign Ministry in 2020, before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Parliamentary Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk on Wednesday posted a photograph on his Facebook page of Kuleba’s handwritten request to step down from the government.
The speaker said that the request would be discussed at a future parliamentary session.
Kuleba’s application is one of numerous resignations since Tuesday that were also published on Stefanchuk’s Facebook page.
Olexander Kamyshin, who is responsible for the defence industry, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska and Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets also announced their resignations.
Vitaly Koval, the head of the State Property Fund responsible for privatization, also wants to leave office.
The resignations of the deputy heads of government Olha Stefanishyna and Iryna Vereshchuk also emerged late on Tuesday. Vereshchuk is responsible for refugee issues, while Stefanishyna is responsible for Ukraine’s European integration.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a reshuffle of the government in July. The aim, he said, is to make the government more effective as the war against Russia continues.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed regret at the resignation of her Ukrainian counterpart in a post on X.
“Long conversations on night trains, at the G7, on the frontlines, in Brussels, in front of a bombed-out power plant. There are few people I’ve worked as closely with as you,” Baerbock wrote in English on Wednesday.
“You put the people of your country before yourself. All the best from the bottom of my heart. We shall meet again when peace and freedom finally has returned to all of Ukraine,” she said.
Five ministries are already being run by acting ministers. A list of new appointees is expected to be announced at a meeting of Zelensky’s party on Wednesday.
Current Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has been in office since March 2020.
