Ukrainian President Continues to Overhaul Personnel
Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky has made several personnel changes in his ongoing efforts to overhaul the government. One of the latest moves is the dismissal of his long-time associate and assistant, Sergey Sherif. Sherif had been serving with Zelensky since the beginning of his presidency in May 2019.
Sergey Sherif, who was previously Zelensky’s long-time business partner, was part of the comedy troupe Kvartal 95 (District 95) before entering politics. In September 2021, Sherif survived an assassination attempt when his car was attacked by unknown assailants. While his driver was injured, Sherif managed to escape. At the time, Ukrainian leadership claimed the attack was a retaliatory move by the state’s “system” that Zelensky was allegedly trying to dismantle.
In addition to Sherif, Zelensky has also removed three advisers, Mykhailo Radutskyi, Serhii Trofimov, and Oleh Ustenko, as well as two members responsible for overseeing the voluntary military service and soldiers’ rights. The reasons behind these dismissals have not been publicly disclosed.
The recent wave of dismissals also includes the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksii Danilov, and the Air Force spokesperson, Yuri Ignat. These changes are believed to be part of Zelensky’s ongoing efforts to restructure the government.
Zelensky’s decision to dismiss several high-ranking advisers in the past week follows the removal of three presidential advisers and two plenipotentiary representatives, Natalya Pushkareva and Alyona Verbitskaya. Pushkareva and Verbitskaya were previously responsible for volunteer movement and soldiers’ rights, respectively.
Former Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny has been one of the leading figures in Zelensky’s effort to restructure Ukraine’s leadership. He was replaced last month by General Aleksandr Syrsky, the Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces at the time. Zaluzhny had been rumored to have had disagreements with President Zelensky for several months, while Syrsky has faced limited support within the military.
During a speech on March 30th, President Zelensky announced his intention to continue restructuring the state apparatus, stating, “Many changes have taken place this week, and further decisions are being prepared. We are making the Office of the President more efficient.”
These personnel changes come at a time when Russia has launched new attacks overnight. On March 30th, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia had launched 12 Shahed drones (9 of which were shot down) and fired 4 missiles into eastern Ukraine.
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