On July 14, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko's government with 258 votes. Just the next day, on the occasion of Ukrainian Statehood Day, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree awarding decorations — among the laureates were both the recently dismissed prime minister and First Vice Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who, according to all available information, remains in the new government in the same position.
What is the award and what for
Both received the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th degree — the wording is standard: "for significant services in strengthening Ukrainian statehood, courage and devotion in defending sovereignty and territorial integrity, substantial personal contribution to the development of various spheres of public life." In the decree, Svyrydenko is listed as "Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2025–2026" — that is, already in the past tense.
By a separate decree, Major Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, received the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 1st degree. For him, this is already the third degree of this order: previously Brovdi was awarded orders of the 3rd degree (2023) and 2nd degree (February 2025). So now he is a full cavalier of the order.
Svyrydenko: a year in power, an order and an embassy
Svyrydenko headed the government for exactly one year — from July 17, 2025. According to the prime minister herself during her farewell speech in the Rada, during this time Ukraine received an EU decision to allocate 90 billion euros in aid, opened two negotiating clusters on accession and survived the 2025–2026 heating season despite massive attacks on energy infrastructure.
"There is a conversation with the president, there is an understanding of the need to reset the government — very specific directions and their strengthening"
Yulia Svyrydenko, speech in the Verkhovna Rada before the vote on resignation
Zelensky publicly thanked her for her work and said he had offered a "new responsible mission." According to several media outlets, this mission is the Ukrainian embassy in the United States: Svyrydenko will likely replace Olha Stefanishyna.
Shmyhal: a Cabinet veteran whom no one touches
Denys Shmyhal is a separate story. He served as prime minister from March 2020 to July 2025, then remained in the Cabinet as first vice prime minister and minister of energy under Svyrydenko, and now, after her resignation, is temporarily acting as head of government. According to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, in the new government under probable Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky, Shmyhal will remain in the same position.
The award in this context is not a farewell, but rather a confirmatory one: the person is not going anywhere, just continuing service with a new order in his pocket.
Koretsky — and the ongoing question of balance
New Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky came from Naftogaz, where he took over the company in April 2025, winning an open competition among 62 candidates. Before that, he managed Ukrnafta and the WOG gas station network. His experience is operational, not political. This means that Shmyhal's position — with his extensive connections and understanding of bureaucracy — gains additional weight in the new Cabinet.
If Koretsky truly gets the Rada's support, his first real test will not be a program statement, but rather whether he can maintain his own agenda alongside a first vice prime minister whose institutional experience is many times greater than his own.
