At the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada held on January 13, the deputies voted for the resignation of Denys Shmyhal from the post of Minister of Defense of Ukraine. This decision was supported by 265 parliamentarians. In his speech, Shmyhal noted: “I leave this position with the confidence that the subsequent processes will lay the foundation for further changes and reforms, and our achievements will support Ukraine's resilience.”
In addition, the deputies also agreed to the dismissal of Vasyl Maliuk from the role of head of the Security Service of Ukraine, which was supported by 235 votes. Maliuk had previously announced his decision to leave the position at the beginning of January. Yevhen Khmara, who previously held the position of head of the Special Operations Center "A," has been appointed as the acting head of the SBU.
Denys Shmyhal had headed the Ministry of Defense since July 2025, and prior to that, he served as Prime Minister for five years. In early 2026, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his intention to "change the format of the Ministry of Defense's work" and proposed Mykhailo Fedorov, the Minister of Digital Transformation, to lead the agency.
