Zelensky sacked deputy head of presidential office and heads of two regional administrations

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose term of office expired on 20 May, has dismissed the deputy head of the presidential office and the heads of the Kiev and Poltava regional administrations. The corresponding decree was published on the Ukrainian leader's website on 30 December.

The deputy head of the presidential office Roman Mashovets, who had been in the post since October 2020, was sent to resign.

Zelensky also removed the head of the Kyiv regional state administration Ruslan Kravchenko and the head of the Poltava regional state administration Philip Pronin. Prior to this, the personnel changes were agreed upon by the country's Cabinet of Ministers. The reasons for the dismissals were not specified.

Earlier, on December 25, the Ukrainian leader dismissed the country's ambassador to Germany, Oleksiy Makeyev. According to the Bild newspaper, the reason for the dismissal was the regular rotation of diplomats. The publication noted that Makeyev's place would be taken by the current Ukrainian ambassador to Israel, Yevhen Korniychuk. However, as specified in the material, the real reason for the dismissal of Makeev was criticism of his predecessors.

Before that, on 29 November, Zelenskyy dismissed the commander of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Oleksandr Pavlyuk, and appointed the commander of the Kharkiv group of forces, General Mykhaylo Drapatiy, to this post.