Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Major General Yevhen Khmara, who until recently headed the Security Service of Ukraine, will serve as the country’s acting defense minister. According to Zelensky, his nomination will soon be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada for approval.
The president said the new head of the Defense Ministry’s main task will be overseeing the campaign of long-range strikes on Russian territory. Zelensky noted that Khmara had already supervised this area while working at the SBU.
“We agreed that Khmara will also oversee the long-range operations of the security forces — this is a priority,” Zelensky said.
Khmara is a career special forces officer. He has served in the SBU’s Alpha special operations center since 2011. In 2023, Zelensky appointed him head of the special anti-terrorism operations center; in August 2025 he became chief of Alpha, and in January 2026 he was named acting head of the SBU.
According to RBC-Ukraine, after the start of the full-scale war Khmara took part in combat in the Kyiv region and later on the Donetsk front. On the SBU’s side, he also led the operation to retake Snake Island and Operation Spiderweb, in which Ukrainian drones hidden in trucks struck military airfields in four Russian regions. Khmara has not yet commented publicly on his appointment.
Zelensky also said that former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov would remain on his team, although his new position has not been specified. Fedorov had publicly linked his dismissal to a conflict with Commander-in-Chief Andriy Syrskyi. Protests in Ukraine have continued for a second day over the resignation. Fedorov led the ministry for only six months; he was credited with reforming army procurement, launching innovation projects, and emphasizing technology and drones.