Parliament approves Laputina's resignation as veterans affairs minister

Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on Feb. 7 approved the resignation of Yuliia Laputina as the veterans affairs minister, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said. The resignation was supported by 302 lawmakers, with no votes against the move.

Laputina submitted her resignation to parliament on Feb. 5.

The news came a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was planning a large-scale reset of Ukraine’s leadership amid rumors of the potential dismissal of Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Laputina did not specify the reason for her decision in the resignation letter.

The Veterans Affairs Ministry was created in 2018, four years after Russia first invaded Donbas and illegally annexed Crimea, in order to implement state policy on social protections for war veterans.

Former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in August 2023 that around a million Ukrainians had become combat veterans since the Russian invasion of Donbas in 2014.

Laputina has served as the ministry’s head since December 2020. Previously, she had years-long experience in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Rai News: Zelensky says leadership reset is necessary

Responding to a question about a rumored dismissal of Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, President Zelensky said he had a serious reset in mind that was not about a single person, but about the general direction of the country’s leadership.

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk