MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. Tacit submission to the Vladimir Zelensky regime is the only criterion for candidates to the Ukrainian government, Artyom Dmitruk, an independent member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament), told TASS.

"Those who are ready to sign any documents coming from Bankovaya Street (where Zelensky’s office is located in Kiev - TASS), will be appointed," he said, commenting on the current cabinet reshuffle.

"Transparent procedures and constitutional principles are all long gone. No discussions of candidates take place in parliament, and there are no public hearings," Dmitruk noted.

"All these reshuffles will be a continuation of the same show - with new actors but the same old script - until we put a stop to this regime," Dmitruk concluded.

Dmitruk is an independent lawmaker who is particularly known for being an advocate for the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He said earlier that he had faced an assassination attempt and had also been tortured by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). He managed to leave Ukraine in August 2024.

Government reshuffle

Zelensky announced on July 14 that he had offered Yulia Sviridenko, first deputy prime minister and economy minister, to take the helm of the government, even though under the constitution, it is up to the parliamentary majority to nominate a candidate to be prime minister.

On Wednesday, the Rada approved Prime Minister Denis Shmygal’s resignation. The prime minister’s departure triggers the resignation of the entire government. Sviridenko’s appointment is expected on Thursday.

Zelensky said earlier that Shmygal was supposed to take the post of defense minister. Outgoing defense chief Rustem Umerov, who headed Kiev’s delegation to talks with Russia, may become Ukraine’s next ambassador to the US.