Zelenskyy Cabinet Shakeup Puts Kyiv's Winter Resilience in Focus

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's weekend announcement that he will replace Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko and overhaul his cabinet is the clearest signal yet that Kyiv is racing to avoid a repeat of last winter's power and heating crises.

Zelenskyy said Sunday on social media that the shakeup was part of a broader change in "political strategy," with winter preparations cited as a specific driver. The move triggers the resignation of the entire cabinet under Ukrainian law.

The leading candidates to replace Svyrydenko are Sergii Koretskyi, CEO of state energy company NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, and former Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, according to people familiar with the matter. Both have deep energy-sector experience. Koretskyi has overseen Naftogaz since 2023, a period during which Ukraine avoided gas shortages despite repeated Russian strikes on power infrastructure.

Svyrydenko served just under a year as prime minister. She was seen as a Yermak ally – Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy's former chief of staff, stepped down late last year amid a corruption scandal involving the president's inner circle. Svyrydenko focused on social payments, including a one-time 1,000 hryvnia ($22) winter stipend, and delivered no major reforms. She is expected to be appointed Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., one of the people said, as ties between Kyiv and Washington improve after President Donald Trump agreed last week to let Ukraine domestically produce Patriot air defense missiles.