Portrait of Serhii Koretskyi, Ukraine's new prime minister

Politics 19 July 2026

Ukraine has a new prime minister — and Koretskyi takes office with Kyiv still in the streets

Ukraine's parliament confirmed Serhii Koretskyi, the former Naftogaz chief, as prime minister with 289 votes. He takes office amid rare wartime protests over the sacking of defence minister Fedorov.

Ukraine’s most turbulent wartime reshuffle now has a face at the top of government. Parliament this week confirmed Serhii Koretskyi as prime minister with 289 votes — comfortably above the 226 needed — and approved almost the entire new cabinet in one sweep. It is only the second change of prime minister since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Koretskyi replacing Yulia Svyrydenko, pushed out in the reshuffle Zelensky set in motion a week ago.

Who is Serhii Koretskyi?

A manager from the energy sector, Koretskyi ran Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state oil and gas company, and built a reputation as a pragmatic operator in one of the country’s most exposed jobs — keeping the gas flowing under bombardment. Zelensky is betting on him to run an exhausted war economy and the negotiations with Western partners. The full line-up of the new government is published through the Ukrainian presidency’s official channels.

Why are people still protesting in Kyiv?

Because the appointment lands on a wound that has not closed: the sacking of defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, which brought thousands of Ukrainians into Kyiv’s central square — an extraordinary sight in wartime. Fedorov had pushed to remove top military commanders, arguing it was the only way to fight the enemy “asymmetrically and with minimal losses”, and the street read his exit as punishment for saying uncomfortable things out loud. For the defence portfolio, Zelensky picked Yevhenii Khmara, the head of the SBU security service, as acting minister.

The paradox is hard to miss: a brand-new government, approved by a wide parliamentary majority, taking office with its legitimacy contested on the street. With the front line shifting in Crimea and an energy winter on the horizon, Koretskyi will get no honeymoon — inside parliament or out.

By Tomás Vasconcelos

Image: © Ukrnafta / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

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