Profiles
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Denys Shmyhal, Oleksiy Reznikov, Olena Kravets… They are Prime Minister, Minister of Defense or even a long-time friend and have advised the Ukrainian President since the start of the Russian invasion.
Whether they pose regularly for the Ukrainian head of state’s selfies or whether they are more discreet, all have helped direct Volodymyr Zelensky since the Russian invasion of February 24, or even since his television debut. Overview of Kyiv’s powerful men and supporters.
Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister
His appointment as Prime Minister was supposed to stem Volodymyr Zelensky’s decline in popularity in March 2020, but it was ultimately the war that was the Ukrainian president’s best springboard. Still, so far, Denys Shmyhal is doing what is expected of him. If he replaced the young Oleksiy Hontcharouk after only six months at the helm, it was above all to reassure the markets and investors. “Cold-headed, cautious, and serious”, said Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce. The Ukrainian Prime Minister is well known in the business community. For leading several companies in Lviv, where he was born and graduated from the polytechnic. But also for having worked in the DTEK group of Rinat Akhmetov, the richest man in the country with a controversial reputation. Appointed on March 4, 2020, Denys Shmyhal will only have governed in the face of exceptional situations: the management of Covid-19 first, and today the war, where the 46-year-old man is mainly in charge of the humanitarian aid and the management of the evacuation routes for the bombed Ukrainians.
Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov
Three days after the start of the war, Zelensky offers himself…