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The minister of defence of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Міністри оборони України, romanized: Ministry oborony Ukrainy) is the head of the Ministry of Defence, which is in charge of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the second-largest military power in Europe after its Russian counterpart. The Minister of Defence is appointed by the president, but this has to be confirmed by a majority vote in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament).[1] From 1 January 2019, Ukraine has had civilian control of the military by requiring that the Minister of Defence be a civilian, although they may have recently resigned from the military.[2]
| Minister of Defence of Ukraine | |
|---|---|
| Міністр оборони України | |
 | |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | President of Ukraine |
| Nominator | Verkhovna Rada |
| Appointer | President of Ukraine |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Precursor | People's Commissar of Defense (1944–1945) People's Minister of Military Affairs (1918–1927) |
| Inaugural holder | Kostiantyn Morozov |
| Deputy | First Deputy Minister |
Since Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, there have been 17 defence ministers (not including acting ones).
| No. | Portrait | Minister of Defense | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Party | Defence branch | President(s) served under | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colonel general Kostyantyn Morozov (born 1944) | 3 September 1991 | 30 September 1993 | 2 years, 27 days | Independent |  Ukrainian Air Force | Leonid Kravchuk | [3][4][5][6] | |
| – | Colonel general Ivan Bizhan (born 1941) Acting | 4 October 1993 | 8 October 1993 | 4 days | Independent |  Ukrainian Ground Forces | Leonid Kravchuk | [6] | |
| 2 | General of the Army Vitalyi Radetskyi (born 1944) | 8 October 1993 | 25 August 1994 | 321 days | Independent | Ukrainian Ground Forces | Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Kuchma | [7][8][9] | |
| – | Valeriy Shmarov (1945–2018) Acting | 25 August 1994 | 10 October 1994 | 46 days | Independent | None | Leonid Kuchma | [9][10] | |
| 3 | Valeriy Shmarov (1945–2018) | 10 October 1994 | 8 July 1996 | 1 year, 272 days | Independent | None | Leonid Kuchma | [10][11][12][13] | |
| 4 | General of the Army Oleksandr Kuzmuk (born 1954) | 11 July 1996 | 24 October 2001 | 5 years, 105 days | Party of Regions | Ukrainian Ground Forces | Leonid Kuchma | [11][14][15][16][17] [18][19][20][21] | |
| 5 | General of the Army Volodymyr Shkidchenko (born 1948) | 12 November 2001 | 25 June 2003 | 1 year, 224 days | Independent | Ukrainian Ground Forces | Leonid Kuchma | [22][23][24] | |
| 6 | General of the Army Yevhen Marchuk (1941–2021) | 25 June 2003 | 23 September 2004 | 1 year, 90 days | Independent | Ukrainian Ground Forces | Leonid Kuchma | [25][24][26] | |
| 7 | General of the Army Oleksandr Kuzmuk (born 1954) | 24 September 2004 | 3 February 2005 | 133 days | Party of Regions | Ukrainian Ground Forces | Leonid Kuchma Viktor Yushchenko | [27][28] | |
| 8 | Colonel Anatoliy Hrytsenko (born 1957) | 4 February 2005 | 18 December 2007 | 2 years, 317 days | Our Ukraine Bloc | Ukrainian Air Force | Viktor Yushchenko | [29][30][31] | |
| 9 | Yuriy Yekhanurov (born 1948) | 18 December 2007 | 5 June 2009 | 1 year, 169 days | Revival | None | Viktor Yushchenko | [32][30][33] | |
| – | Colonel Valeriy Ivashchenko (born 1956) Acting | 5 June 2009 | 11 March 2010 | 279 days | Independent | Ukrainian Air Force | Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Yanukovych | – | |
| 10 | Admiral Mykhailo Yezhel (born 1952) | 11 March 2010 | 8 February 2012 | 1 year, 334 days | Independent |  Ukrainian Navy | Viktor Yanukovych | [34] | |
| 11 | Dmytro Salamatin (born 1965) | 8 February 2012 | 24 December 2012 | 320 days | Party of Regions | None | Viktor Yanukovych | [35] | |
| 12 | Captain Pavlo Lebedyev (born 1962) | 24 December 2012 | 27 February 2014 | 1 year, 65 days | Party of Regions |  Soviet Army | Viktor Yanukovych Oleksandr Turchynov | [36] | |
| – | Colonel general Volodymyr Zamana (born 1959) as Commissar | 22 February 2014 | 27 February 2014 | 5 days | Independent | Ukrainian Ground Forces | Oleksandr Turchynov | – | |
| – | Admiral Ihor Tenyukh (born 1958) Acting | 27 February 2014 | 25 March 2014 | 26 days | Svoboda | Ukrainian Navy | Oleksandr Turchynov | – | |
| – | Colonel general Mykhailo Koval (born 1956) Acting | 25 March 2014 | 3 July 2014 | 100 days | Independent | Ukrainian Ground Forces | Oleksandr Turchynov Petro Poroshenko | – | |
| 13 | Colonel general Valeriy Heletey (born 1967) | 3 July 2014 | 14 October 2014 | 103 days | Independent | Ukrainian Ground Forces | Petro Poroshenko | [1][37] | |
| 14 | General of the Army Stepan Poltorak (born 1965) | 14 October 2014 | 29 August 2019 | 4 years, 319 days | Independent | Ukrainian Ground Forces | Petro Poroshenko | – | |
| 15 | Andrii Zahorodniuk (born 1976) | 29 August 2019 | 4 March 2020 | 188 days | Independent | None | Volodymyr Zelenskyy | [38] | |
| 16 | Lieutenant general Andriy Taran (born 1955) | 4 March 2020 | 3 November 2021 | 1 year, 244 days[39] | Independent | Ukrainian Ground Forces | Volodymyr Zelenskyy | [40] | |
| 17 | Sergeant Oleksii Reznikov (born 1966) | 4 November 2021 | 5 September 2023 | 1 year, 305 days | Independent |  Soviet Air Forces | Volodymyr Zelenskyy | [41] | |
| 18 | Rustem Umerov (born 1982) | 6 September 2023 | 1 year, 69 days | Holos | None | Volodymyr Zelenskyy | [42] |
The current Minister of Defense is Rustem Umierov who was sworn in by the Verkhovna Rada on 6 September.[42]The longest-serving Minister of Defense is Oleksandr Kuzmuk who served for a total of 2,063 days.
The longest serving as an acting Minister of Defense is Valeriy Ivashchenko who served for a total 279 days (over 9 months).
Created on 27 May 1992, the office of deputy ministers was expanded on 4 June 1992 with the chief of the General Staff holding the post until 8 February 2002. Since 10 September 2003, the post was "demilitarized", held only by civilian or retired military personnel. The first deputy serves as an acting minister in absence of officially appointed minister unless specified otherwise.
Historically, the ministry was preceding by various other governmental institutions. The very first Ukrainian representative in military affairs was Symon Petlyura, appointed by Volodymyr Vynnychenko to General Secretariat of Ukraine in the summer of 1917. Later in December 1917 after establishing the Bolshevik government in Kharkiv the Military Secretary of Ukraine was opposed by the Military Secretary of Soviet Ukraine whom the first was Vasyl Shakhrai. Note that the first ministers of Ukraine were not specialists in military affairs, particularly such as Mykola Porsh.
The Ukrainian People's Army was in terrible condition and it was not until the power in the country was taken over by the former head of the Russian Imperial Retinue and hereditary Ukrainian Cossack Pavlo Skoropadsky, under leadership of which the new minister became Aleksandr Rogoza (also known as Oleksandr Rohoza). Rogoza was instrumental in restructuring the ministry and recruiting numerous former Russian Imperial generals who pledged their allegiance to the government of Ukraine. By the end of 1918 Bolsheviks recreated the Ukrainian Soviet government and to its office of military affairs was appointed Nikolai Podvoisky, former narkom of Military Affairs of Soviet Russia who played a key role in the October Revolution. Around that time there was created the government of the West Ukrainian People's Republic, the office of military affairs of which was headed by Dmytro Vitovsky who was a specialist in special operations, particularly the mountain warfare. Vitovsky played a key role in securing the city of Lviv and ensuring the proclamation of independence of the new Ukrainian state from the disintegrating Austro-Hungary.
| Military Rank | Name | Term of Office | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | ||
| Symon Petlyura | 28 June 1917 | 1 January 1918[44] | |
| Mykola Porsh | 1 January 1918 | 17 January 1918 | |
| Ivan Nemolovsky | 18 January 1918 | 28 January 1918 | |
| Oleksandr Zhukovsky | 28 January 1918 | 29 April 1918 | |
| Major General | Oleksander Hrekov (temporary) | 29 April 1918 | 3 May 1918 |
| Oleksandr Slyvynsky (temporary) | May 3, 1918 | May 8, 1918 | |
| Major General | Oleksandr Lignau (temporary) | May 8, 1918 | May 16, 1918 |
| Alexander Ragoza | May 16, 1918 | November 14, 1918 | |
| Borys Shutsky (temporary) | November 14, 1918 | December 14, 1918 | |
| Mykola Halahan | December 14, 1918 | December 26, 1918 | |
| Oleksander Osetsky | December 26, 1918 | January 9, 1919 | |
| Major General | Oleksander Hrekov (temporary) | January 9, 1919 | February 14, 1919 |
| Hryhoriy Syrotenko (acting) | February 14, 1919 | February 22, 1919 | |
| Colonel | Oleksandr Shapoval | February 22, 1919 | April 9, 1919 |
| Hryhoriy Syrotenko (acting) | April 9, 1919 | June 20, 1919 | |
| Hryhoriy Syrotenko | June 20, 1919 | July 4, 1919 | |
| Major General | Oleksandr Shaible (temporary) | July 4, 1919 | July 14, 1919 |
| Vsevolod Petriv (temporary) | July 14, 1919 | November 5, 1919 | |
| Major General | Volodymyr Salsky | November 5, 1919 | July 25, 1920 |
| Colonel General | Oleksiy Halkin (temporary) | July 25, 1920 | December 24, 1920 |
| Colonel General | Mykola Yunakiv (temporary) | December 24, 1920 | February 8, 1921 |
| Lieutenant General | Serhiy Dyadyusha (temporary) | February 8, 1921 | March 24, 1921 |
| Lieutenant General | Mykhailo Pavlenko (temporary) | March 24, 1921 | May 11, 1921 |
| Major General | Marko Bezruchko (temporary) | May 23, 1921 | August 5, 1921 |
| Major General | Viktor Pavlenko (temporary) | August 5, 1921 | November 15, 1921 |
| Lieutenant General | Petro Yeroshevych (temporary) | November 3, 1921 | November 14, 1921 |
| Major General | Andriy Vovk (temporary) | 14 November 1921 | 22 May 1922 |
| Colonel General | Mykola Yunakiv | 22 May 1922 | 1927 |
| Oleksandr Udovychenko | |||
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