The Daily Populous Monday July 13rd, 2026 morning edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by BeckwithLBP

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stepped down on Sunday as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced fresh changes to Ukraine’s government.

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In a statement on social media, Svyrydenko said she was “proud to have had the honor of leading the government during one of the most difficult periods in Ukraine’s modern history.” She also said she had discussed “next steps” with Zelenskyy but did not provide further details.

“I remain ready to serve the Ukrainian state and carry out every task aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s position, defending our national interests and bringing a just peace closer,” she said.

Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s former economy minister, was named prime minister in July 2025 at age 39 after playing a lead role in securing a mineral agreement between Ukraine and the U.S., seen as an important way of tying U.S. interests to Ukraine’s security.

Zelenskyy announced her resignation in a post saying that Ukraine was “changing its political strategy.”

He also said he had offered Svyrydenko the opportunity to lead “a new, important area” in Ukraine’s relations with a key international partner.

“Each priority area of foreign policy will be assigned to a specific person with substantial experience who is capable of implementing what we agree on at the leaders’ level and what the Ukrainian people expect,” Zelenskyy said, describing the impending reshuffle. The Ukrainian leader also said there would be changes among the top ranks of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies.

Zelenskyy met with a series of senior officials following the announcement, including Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

The overhaul, which Zelenskyy has yet to explain in detail, would be the fourth major reorganization of his government since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Zelenskyy, who has remained in office under martial law because wartime elections are prohibited, has periodically reshuffled his government in an effort to bring fresh momentum to his administration.

Elsewhere, a Ukrainian attack in southwest Russia killed one person and wounded three more, local officials said Sunday, as Kyiv’s forces continued to bombard Russia’s oil facilities.

The head of Russia’s Samara region, Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said that a child was among the injured. He also said that residential homes and apartment buildings were damaged in the strike, as well as an unspecified “industrial site.”

Russian media outlets reported that the attack’s target was the region’s Syzran Oil Refinery, with many sharing images that appeared to show plumes of black smoke rising over the site. The refinery, which is owned by oil and gas giant Rosneft and sits some 500 miles east of the border, has been a repeated target for Kyiv’s forces.

Meanwhile the governor of Russia’s Rostov region, Yuri Slyusar, said that a tanker had been damaged in a drone attack in the Azov-Black Sea maritime canal. The tanker was empty and there is no threat of an oil spill, Slyusar said.

Ukraine’s drone strikes on oil refineries and other infrastructure across Russia have triggered a widespread fuel crisis with gasoline shortages and rationing in multiple regions and motorists waiting for hours to fill their tanks. Moscow has responded by intensifying its bombardment on Kyiv and other cities, exposing Ukraine’s vulnerability to ballistic missile strikes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure as part of Kyiv’s campaign of “long-range sanctions” carried out in response to Moscow’s refusal to halt its four-year invasion of its neighbor.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday that it had attacked the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk in Ukraine’s Odesa region. Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the claims.

Historical_Lack6587 on July 12nd, 2026 at 16:37 UTC »

I don’t know what to make of this.

Appointing Fedorov as the defense minister has had a big effect on the battlefield, as was placing Budanov as Z’s chief of staff.

Let’s hope switching people will continue to have positive results.

anachronistic_circus on July 12nd, 2026 at 16:31 UTC »

For context. Zelensky's political party has the supermajority in the parliament. This is basically just musical chairs

BioFrosted on July 12nd, 2026 at 16:29 UTC »

Can anyone who knows Ukrainian politics and politicians tell us in a nutshell if this is good news, bad, inconsequential...?