Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out on Thursday, after Dmytro Kuleba, and the so-called “Kiev Hillary” Irina Veretschuk.

Ukraine’s parliament approved the dismissal of Iryna Vereshchuk from the position of deputy prime minister and minister of reintegration.

Kuleba was dismissed as foreign minister, with 240 members of the Verkova Rada (Parliament) voting for his resignation. Vereshchuk was removed from her position “on the second attempt”, as the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday did not approve her dismissal, which was supported by 255 deputies on Thursday.

“The president said he needs me in the OPU (office of the Ukrainian president). Therefore, I am moving to the position of Deputy President of the OPU. Serving the Ukrainian people!” he wrote on Facebook.

The 44-year-old today Vereshchuk at the age of 30 became the youngest female mayor in the whole of Ukraine.

Yesterday it was confirmed that Dmytro Kuleba had tendered his resignation, a day after several other high profile ministers had done the same. Kuleba has been in government since the 2019 election, serving first as deputy prime minister and later as foreign minister, a position he held for 4.5 years.

Kuleba’s resignation was expected to be voted on by Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday, but was postponed.

According to a close associate of Zelensky, Kuleba will be replaced by Andrii Sibiha. He is a career diplomat who served as Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey between 2016-2019.

In 2021, he joined the Zelensky government and in April became Kuleba’s deputy.

A source close to the President’s office told the Kyiv Independent that Kuleba “wanted to leave”.

After the critical developments on the battlefield, the president of Ukraine is moving forward in broad reshaping, to clarify the political landscape and immediately give his government – as he said – a new “new energy”.

“These steps are connected to the strengthening of our state in various sectors. International politics and diplomacy are no exception,” he said on September 4 during a press conference in Kyiv.

The mass replacement of ministers is not surprising. Such reshuffles have become relatively common in Ukrainian politics, and the announcement of resignations followed weeks of reports that several ministers might be replaced.

But the timing of the reshuffle has caused some concern, amid an increase in Russian missile attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks, a deepening energy crisis and a worsening situation on the front line in the east.