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Why is Zelenskyy shaking up his cabinet amid successes against Russia?

▶ Watch Video: Ukraine’s Zelenskyy continues aid requests as Russia launches new strikes

Kyiv — Ukraine’s Parliament accepted Yulia Svyrydenko’s resignation as prime minister on Tuesday following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to overhaul the country’s top leadership. The move has surprised many observers who credit the outgoing cabinet with Ukraine’s recent successes in countering Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion.

Zelenskyy says the changes are aimed at preparing Ukraine for another difficult winter and strengthening relations with key foreign partners. But officials and lawmakers say the reshuffle also reflects broader political calculations inside Kyiv.

“Ukraine is changing its political strategy. Each priority area of foreign policy will be assigned to a specific person with substantial experience who is capable of implementing what we agree on at the leaders’ level and what the Ukrainian people expect,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “The same applies to our domestic work … Preparing for winter is an extremely important priority, and Ukraine must be ready for every threat that may arise.”

Briefing Of The President Of Ukraine And Members Of The Cabinet Of Ministers
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (2nd from left), Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko (center), and Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov (right) are seen during a briefing with members of the Cabinet of Ministers, March 5, 2026 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Andrew Kravchenko/Global Images Ukraine/Getty

The initial changes have indicated he’s serious about both priorities. Last winter was Ukraine’s harshest since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. As Russia hammered the country’s energy grid, cities endured weeks-long power and heating outages. Officials have warned that the government has not taken the steps necessary to prevent the same thing from happening this winter.

“The reason was the Svyrydenko cabinet’s failure to prepare adequately for the winter,” Oleg Dunda, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, told CBS News. “As far as I know, the implementation of the resilience plans was unsatisfactory. And so the question arose: Either try to strengthen this area in time, or let this cabinet take full responsibility.”

Svyrydenko’s likely replacement as prime minister, Serhiy Koretskyi, the CEO of Ukraine’s state energy giant Navtozgaz, may be well-positioned to address the shortcomings. 

“He is a real technocrat,” Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Strategic Industries, told CBS News. “The winter is coming, and there is a need to strengthen the energy sector and efficiency.”

Zelenskyy is expected to make Svyrydenko Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States. Officials say she has close relationships with members of the Trump administration, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, dating back to their work on the “critical minerals deal” last year. 

Ukraine’s current ambassador in Washington, Olha Stefanishyna, submitted her resignation this week. 

But while some personnel shifts do track clearly with stated Ukrainian government priorities, others have confounded lawmakers and officials. Rumors that Zelenskyy could replace popular Minister of Defense Mikhailo Fedorov with current Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko have drawn considerable pushback.

FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Zelenskiy and newly appointed Defence Minister Fedorov shake hands before their meeting in Kyiv
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy greets newly appointed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov before a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, in a Jan. 14, 2026 file photo. 

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout/REUTERS

Fedorov, a 35-year-old tech entrepreneur with close ties to Silicon Valley, became the defense chief in January after spearheading technological reforms at Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation. He is widely credited with Ukraine’s recent battlefield successes, including a campaign to cut off fuel and logistics flows to Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014. 

Several officials told CBS News that Fedorov’s growing popularity has led some in Kyiv to view him as a potential political rival to Zelenskyy, and the Economist reported this week that there had been friction between Fedorov and some of Ukraine’s top generals, including the commander of the armed forces Oleksandr Syrskyi. 

A spokesman for Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said the observations in the Economist article were gathered before Zelenskyy announced the reshuffle of his government, and they would not offer any further comment. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, Zelenskyy had announced no decision on any further moves in his shake-up, but he held meetings with Koretskiy, the likely new prime minister, as well as acting Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Internal Affairs Klymenko, and Fedorov. 

“The transformation of all processes within Ukraine’s Defense Forces that can sustain the motivation of our warriors must also continue, along with efforts to ensure that combat brigades are properly staffed. We all understand the challenges,” Zelenskyy wrote on X following his meeting with Fedorov. “It is important that the necessary leadership in the defense sector delivers results.”

Trump will need China for his new economic war against Iran. Good luck getting Xi on side

By CNN
Beijing (CNN) — When US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled “Operation Economic Outcast,” threatening damaging new sanctions on countries that refuse to stop doing business with Iran, he didn’t name the one country that could decide its success or failure: China.The world’s second largest economy has long been a critical economic lifeline for Tehran, buying up the vast majority of its oil exports – worth an estimated tens of billions in US dollars last year – in addition to other trade.Bringing it on board with the White House’s latest effort to subdue an Iranian leadership stubbornly defiant after almost six months of war, however, is an extremely tall order.Beijing flatly rejects what it calls “unilateral” US sanctions and has long defended its right to regular trade with partners like Iran and Russia. It also surmises that Washington would be wary of triggering a broader economic confrontation that would hurt both countries, right ahead of the US midterms.On Tuesday, following Bessent’s presser, China’s Foreign Ministry vowed to “take all necessary measures” to safeguard its “own legitimate rights and interests” in the face of US sanctions threats.“Economic warfare and maximum pressure will not help resolve the issue; they will only further intensify tensions and conflicts, create spillover risks, disrupt the global economic and financial order,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.Bessent’s threat also comes ahead of a highly anticipated visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the US next month, where the two sides could make progress on extending a critical trade truce set to expire later this fall.Trump earlier said that he did not ask Xi “for any favors” on Iran during a May meeting between the two – a statement, which, if correct, will likely smell to Beijing of American desperation to end the conflict.What’s left now is a careful calculus for both countries in how they navigate what Bessent has said will be a period of “quiet diplomacy” – or privately issuing ultimatums to Iran’s economic partners, which the Treasury chief did not specifically name during his press conference.Chinese analysts suggest limited space for Washington’s demands: “China is unlikely to accept a situation in which Washington determines what Chinese companies can legally trade with third countries,” said Zhao Long, director of the Institute for International Strategic and Security Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.“That would establish a precedent that US secondary sanctions can effectively determine China’s commercial relations with third countries,” he said.What Washington could doChina imports Iranian oil using a shadowy system that’s by design insulated from the US dollar system – and sanctions.Private, so-called teapot refineries, purchase and process US-sanctioned Iranian crude, relying on a network of ports, financial institutions and tankers that are often similarly firewalled from international exposure. China hasn’t recorded these purchases officially in years, since after the US re-imposed sanctions on Iran when the first Trump administration backed out of the Obama-era Iranian nuclear deal.But pressure points do exist, analysts say.“When you look at the upstream ownership of these entities, you’ll find many are directly or indirectly held by major Chinese state-owned entities that are heavily integrated into the US dollar system,” said Max Meizlish, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank in Washington.“By sanctioning their subsidiaries, the US can apply pressure on the parents to divest at risk of being deemed as providing direct or indirect support to sanctioned entities,” he said.Bessent earlier this year said Washington has sent warnings to two unnamed Chinese banks about their role in Iran-linked transactions. When asked on Monday during his press conference what measures the US would take against non-compliant Chinese banks and shipping firms, he said “no one is above” facing US sanctions.Despite the tough talk, Beijing has seen the US threaten – and then back off – sweeping sanctions before. And it also knows Washington is acutely aware of China’s significant economic leverage over the US, especially in the form of its grip on the global supply of strategically critical rare earths.“If Washington crossed that threshold (of sanctioning major Chinese banks), Beijing would almost certainly respond, and the political atmosphere for a summit (between Trump and Xi) would deteriorate sharply,” said Sun Chenghao, a senior fellow at Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy in Beijing.Such a move might not automatically cancel their meeting, but it would “shift the summit from stabilization toward damage control,” he said.Summit considerationsBoth sides will be weighing up the impact of escalation to that summit, expected to be the first state visit by Xi to the US in 11 years.While Beijing will not want to be seen to be cooperating with a sanctions regime it opposes, there are careful maneuvers it could take – such as quietly reducing oil purchases or elevating its political messaging to Tehran and efforts to encourage restraint.Chinese purchases of Iranian oil have already declined sharply compared to last year as the US blockade has constrained Iranian crude exports.Chinese analysts have also in recent weeks suggested there are overlaps between the interests of Washington and Beijing, especially in terms of seeing trade flows restored in the Strait of Hormuz, which has been choked by the conflict, and restoring broader regional stability, also conductive to trade.And Beijing has in recent days re-upped its messaging urging restraint and normal operations around the Strait.In a joint statement following a meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Beijing on Monday, Xi called for the restoration of “normal passage” through the Strait and a “comprehensive solution” to the conflict.Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Miao Deyu said last week while hosting Iranian officials in Beijing that China was “actively committed to promoting peace talks.”Even still, Beijing has shown itself wary of playing a direct mediator role in the conflict, preferring a position where it protects its own economic interests – and plays up its image as a stable power that supports regional peace, in contrast to Washington’s vacillations.Any cooperation with the US in restoring regional peace “should not be reduced to ‘doing Trump a favor,’” said Zhao in Shanghai.“Beijing is willing to contribute to ending the crisis, but it is not willing to become an instrument of Washington’s maximum-pressure strategy.”The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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