Kyiv, July 16, 2025 – In the largest government reshuffle Ukraine has seen in recent years, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) has officially appointed Yulia Svyrydenko as the country’s new Prime Minister, marking a strategic shift aimed at improving wartime governance and boosting domestic arms production.
At 39 years old, Svyrydenko steps into the role following a direct proposal from President Volodymyr Zelensky, who emphasized the urgent need for self-reliance in defense manufacturing and the revitalization of Ukraine’s wartime economy, which remains heavily dependent on foreign loans.
“The war leaves no room for delay,” Svyrydenko declared in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Our top priorities over the next six months are clear: ensuring consistent supplies for our army, expanding domestic weapons production, and strengthening the technological capabilities of our defense forces.”
In his address to Parliament, President Zelensky called for 50% of Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines to be equipped with locally produced arms within six months, highlighting this goal as central to the new government’s mission.
Zelensky also stressed the need to expand economic cooperation with Western allies, particularly the United States, framing the new leadership as a driving force behind this renewed diplomatic and industrial push.
Svyrydenko, a seasoned technocrat and Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister since 2021, is widely respected in U.S. policy circles. She is credited with having successfully negotiated Ukraine’s rare mineral access agreement with Washington, seen as a cornerstone of Ukraine-U.S. relations amid the ongoing war.
“We will act quickly and decisively,” Svyrydenko pledged, aligning with Zelensky’s expectations for an aggressive economic and defense-oriented agenda.
The reshuffle comes more than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has continued to describe as a “special military operation.” The war has led to thousands of casualties and millions displaced, with Western nations imposing sweeping sanctions against Moscow in response.
