Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reshuffling the government as his country’s war with Russia rages more than three years after it began. 

First Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has been tapped to lead the next government as prime minister. Meanwhile, current Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is set to serve as the country’s next defense minister.

President of the Swiss Confederation Viola Amherd with Beat Jans, Swiss Minister of Justice and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and their respective delegations, hold bilateral talks, on Monday, January 15, 2024 in Kehrsatz near Bern, Switzerland. (Keystone/Alessandro Della Valle/Pool via REUTERS)

In Ukraine, the president nominates the country’s prime minister, but the appointment must be approved by the Verkhovna Rada, the country’s parliament, to become official.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said he held a meeting with Svyrydenko and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for Innovations, Development of Education, Science and Technologies Mykhailo Fedorov to discuss “key priorities” for the next government. These include what he laid out for Svyrydenko as well as “fully contracting the required volumes of all types of drones” Ukranian forces need.

Soldiers of the 30th Prince Konstanty Ostrogski Mechanized Brigade fire a missile from a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher at the positions of Russian troops in the Donetsk direction, Ukraine, on June 3, 2025. (Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Outgoing prime minister Shmyhal, who has served in the role since 2020, is set to replace current Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, whom Zelenskyy reportedly suggested would become the country’s next ambassador to the U.S., according to Reuters.

Zelenskyy praised Shmyhal — the country’s longest-serving head of government since it gained independence in 1991— for his “vast experience,” according to reports.