Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is leaving his post as part of a major government shakeup after two and a half years of war.
The 43-year-old career diplomat took over the Foreign Ministry in 2020, before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk posted a photo on his Facebook page on Wednesday of Kuleba’s handwritten request to resign from the government.
The speaker said the request would be discussed during a future parliamentary session.
Kuleba’s request is one of several resignation requests since Tuesday, which were also published on Stefanchuk’s Facebook page.
Also Olexander Kamyshin, responsible for the defense industry, Justice Minister Denys Maliuska and Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets announced their resignations.
Vitali Koval, the head of the State Property Fund responsible for privatization, also wants to resign.
The resignations of deputy leaders Olha Stefanishyna and Iryna Vereshchuk also came out late Tuesday. Vereshchuk is responsible for refugee issues, while Stefanishyna is responsible for Ukraine’s European integration.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a government reshuffle in July. The goal, he said, is to make the government more effective as the war against Russia continues.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed her regret over the dismissal of her Ukrainian counterpart in a message on X.
“Long conversations on night trains, at the G7, at the front, in Brussels, in front of a bombed power station. There are few people with whom I have worked as closely as you,” Baerbock wrote in English on Wednesday.
“You put the people of your country above yourself. All the best, from the bottom of my heart. We will meet again when peace and freedom finally return to all of Ukraine,” she said.
Five ministries are already headed by caretaker ministers. A list of new appointments 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.
