Ukraine dismisses ambassadors to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and five other countries

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has removed the nation's ambassadors to seven countries: Austria, Tunisia, Libya, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, and Brunei. The presidential decrees announcing these diplomatic changes did not provide any explanation for the decisions.

The decrees specifically relieved Vasyl Khymynets of his duties as ambassador to Austria. Volodymyr Khomanets was dismissed from his role as ambassador to both Tunisia and Libya. Valeriy Yevdokymov and Valeriy Zhovtenko were removed from their ambassadorial posts in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, respectively. Yekaterina Zelenko was also dismissed as Ukraine's ambassador to Singapore and Brunei.

Beyond these ambassadorial changes, the diplomatic reshuffle also impacted Ukraine's representation at UNESCO. Vadym Omelchenko, who concurrently serves as Ukraine's ambassador to France, was relieved of his responsibilities as Ukraine's permanent representative to UNESCO. His replacement is Viktoriia Lialina-Boiko, who previously led the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s Department of Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communications.

The presidential decrees did not offer reasons for these dismissals, nor did they specify when new ambassadors would be appointed to fill the vacant positions.

This series of diplomatic changes follows similar actions taken by Kazakhstan. On July 10, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev replaced Kazakhstan’s ambassadors to Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Serbia, and Hungary. Subsequently, on July 22, Yeraly Tugzhanov was appointed as Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Uzbekistan, succeeding Beibut Atamkulov, who was relieved of that post.