Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has submitted official proposals to parliament for the appointment of General Yevhen Khmara as Minister of Defense and Andrii Sybiha as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The formal filings reached the Verkhovna Rada on August 18, according to the parliamentary website, following an earlier announcement by parliamentary Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk confirming their registration.
Lawmakers are expected to consider the nominations during a voting session scheduled for August 19, while the two candidates conduct meetings with parliamentary members ahead of the vote. Stefanchuk said parliament would examine the presidential submissions in the near future under procedures defined by the Constitution of Ukraine and parliamentary rules.
Legal status of the defense minister
The nomination of Khmara has raised legal questions in Kyiv because Ukrainian law requires the minister of defense to be a civilian, whereas Khmara is an active military officer holding the rank of general.
Under the Law of Ukraine on National Security, the position of defense minister must be filled from among civilian individuals. Khmara was previously instructed by President Zelenskyy on July 16 to serve as acting defense minister following the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov from the post.
At the time of that decision, Zelenskyy stated that he would ask lawmakers to formally confirm Khmara when the Verkhovna Rada convened in the second half of August. The removal of Fedorov triggered street protests in Kyiv and multiple other Ukrainian cities that have continued since July 16, with demonstrators assembling outside the Verkhovna Rada building to demand that Fedorov be restored to office.
Parliamentary debate on military status
Members of the Verkhovna Rada have offered differing views on how the government can resolve Khmara's military status ahead of the confirmation vote.
Volodymyr Kreydenko, a member of parliament from the ruling Servant of the People faction, said that wartime conditions prevent operating under civilian templates. Kreydenko suggested that parliament could pass legislative changes to alter the restriction barring military personnel from serving as defense minister. He added that neither President Zelenskyy nor the parliamentary faction would violate the constitution or the law when appointing a minister.
Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a lawmaker from the Holos party, emphasized that if parliament intended to modify the law, lawmakers should have done so before the president formally submitted Khmara's nomination. Zheleznyak noted that if the legal framework remains unchanged, Khmara must be officially discharged from military service prior to any appointment.
Zheleznyak added that numerous sources had informed him of efforts to find a legal solution by transitioning Khmara to civilian status. However, Zheleznyak stated that he was unaware of any legal mechanism to accomplish this transition other than through the Military Medical Commission, known as the VLK.
Mykhailo Tsymbalyuk, a parliamentarian from the Batkivshchyna party, said the law ought to be updated so that military officers can head the Ministry of Defense during martial law. Tsymbalyuk explained that as the law currently stands without such amendments, Khmara could legally become a civilian under two specific conditions: first, for health reasons through the VLK, or second, as a result of organizational and staffing restructurings in which no alternative position, even one lower in rank, is offered to him.
