List of ministers of defense (Ukraine)

in 1991, there have been 17 defence ministers (not including acting ones).

List of ministers of defence

Ministers

No.	Portrait	Minister of Defense	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Party	Defence branch	President(s) served under	Ref.
1		Morozov, KostyantynColonel 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]
–		Bizhan, IvanColonel general Ivan Bizhan (born 1941) Acting	4 October 1993	8 October 1993	4 days	Independent	Ukrainian Ground Forces	Leonid Kravchuk	[6]
2	Vitalyi Radetskyi (born 1944)	8 October 1993	25 August 1994	321 days	Independent	Ukrainian Ground Forces	Leonid Kravchuk Leonid Kuchma	[7][8][9]
–		Shmarov, ValeriyValeriy Shmarov (1945–2018) Acting	25 August 1994	10 October 1994	46 days	Independent	None	Leonid Kuchma	[9][10]
3		Shmarov, ValeriyValeriy Shmarov (1945–2018)	10 October 1994	8 July 1996	1 year, 272 days	Independent	None	Leonid Kuchma	[10][11][12][13]
4		Kuzmuk, OleksandrGeneral 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		Shkidchenko, VolodymyrGeneral 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		Marchuk, YevhenGeneral 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		Kuzmuk, OleksandrGeneral 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		Hrytsenko, AnatoliyColonel 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		Yekhanurov, YuriyYuriy Yekhanurov (born 1948)	18 December 2007	5 June 2009	1 year, 169 days	Revival	None	Viktor Yushchenko	[32][30][33]
–	Valeriy Ivashchenko (born 1956) Acting	5 June 2009	11 March 2010	279 days	Independent	Ukrainian Air Force	Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Yanukovych	–
10		Yezhel, MykhailoAdmiral Mykhailo Yezhel (born 1952)	11 March 2010	8 February 2012	1 year, 334 days	Independent	Ukrainian Navy	Viktor Yanukovych	[34]
11		Salamatin, DmytroDmytro Salamatin (born 1965)	8 February 2012	24 December 2012	320 days	Party of Regions	None	Viktor Yanukovych	[35]
12		Lebedyev, PavloCaptain Pavlo Lebedyev (born 1962)	24 December 2012	27 February 2014	1 year, 65 days	Party of Regions	Soviet Army	Viktor Yanukovych Oleksandr Turchynov	[36]
–		Zamana, VolodymyrColonel general Volodymyr Zamana (born 1959) as Commissar	22 February 2014	27 February 2014	5 days	Independent	Ukrainian Ground Forces	Oleksandr Turchynov	–
–		Tenyukh, IhorAdmiral Ihor Tenyukh (born 1958) Acting	27 February 2014	25 March 2014	26 days	Svoboda	Ukrainian Navy	Oleksandr Turchynov	–
–		Koval, MykhailoColonel general Mykhailo Koval (born 1956) Acting	25 March 2014	3 July 2014	100 days	Independent	Ukrainian Ground Forces	Oleksandr Turchynov Petro Poroshenko	–
13		Heletey, ValeriyColonel general Valeriy Heletey (born 1967)	3 July 2014	14 October 2014	103 days	Independent	Ukrainian Ground Forces	Petro Poroshenko	[1][37]
14		Poltorak, StepanGeneral of the Army Stepan Poltorak (born 1965)	14 October 2014	29 August 2019	4 years, 319 days	Independent	Ukrainian Ground Forces	Petro Poroshenko	–
15		Zahorodniuk, AndriiAndrii Zahorodniuk (born 1976)	29 August 2019	4 March 2020	188 days	Independent	None	Volodymyr Zelenskyy	[38]
16		Taran, AndriyLieutenant general Andriy Taran (born 1955)	4 March 2020	3 November 2021	1 year, 244 days[39]	Independent	Ukrainian Ground Forces	Volodymyr Zelenskyy	[40]
17		Reznikov, OleksiiSergeant Oleksii Reznikov (born 1966)	4 November 2021	5 September 2023	1 year, 305 days	Independent	Soviet Air Forces	Volodymyr Zelenskyy	[41]
18		Umerov, RustemRustem Umerov (born 1982)	6 September 2023		225 days	Holos	None	Volodymyr Zelenskyy	[42]

The current Minister of Defense is

Valeriy Ivashchenko

who served for a total 279 days (over 9 months).

First deputy ministers

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.

• 27 May 1992 – 24 March 1993 Lieutenant General Ivan Bizhan (since 24 December 1991 a deputy minister; Chief of the General Staff since 25 September 1992)
• 4 June 1992 – 25 September 1992 Lieutenant General Vasyl Sobkov (Chief of the General Staff)
• 24 March 1993 – 10 February 1996 Colonel General Anatoliy Lopata (Chief of the General Staff)
• 12 March 1996 – 30 September 1998 Lieutenant General Oleksandr Zatynaiko (Chief of the General Staff)
• 14 March 1996 – 8 February 2002 Colonel General Ivan Bizhan
• 30 September 1998 – 13 November 2001 Colonel General Volodymyr Shkidchenko (Chief of the General Staff)
• 27 November 2001 – 8 February 2002 Colonel General Petro Shkulyak (Chief of the General Staff)
  • In 2002 — 2003 all deputies were replaced (phased away) by newly created posts of state secretaries, but after the reform was reverted.
• 25 January 2002 – 10 September 2003 Oleksandr Oliynyk
• 5 February 2002 – 14 August 2003 Colonel General Viktor Bannykh (on issues of international cooperation) (died in office)
• 10 September 2003 – ? November 2004 Oleksandr Oliynyk
• 13 September 2003 – 7 October 2004 Valentyna Hoshovska (humanitarian policy and relations with parliament)
• 5 October 2004 – 10 February 2005 Dmytro Rudkovskyi (governor of the office of Ministry of Defence)
• 6 October 2004 – 25 February 2005 Oleksandr Stetsenko
• 26 October 2004 – 25 February 2005 Volodymyr Bilyi (humanitarian policy and relations with parliament)
• 19 February 2005 – 23 January 2008 Leonid Polyakov
• 5 June 2009 – 26 May 2010
  Valeriy Ivashchenko
• 31 March 2010 – 2 June 2010 Hryhoriy Pedchenko
• 18 August 2010 – 18 February 2012 Volodymyr Mozharovskyi
• 18 February 2012 – 5 March 2014 Oleksandr Oliynyk
• 15 September 2014 – 14 February 2023 Ivan Rusnak
• 14 February 2023 – 10 February 2024 Oleksandr Pavliuk^[43]

Earlier military ministers and secretaries

Historically, the ministry was preceding by various other governmental institutions. The very first Ukrainian representative in military affairs was

• Dmytro Vitovsky
• Viktor Kurmanovych

Soviet appointees

• Vasyl Shakhrai
• Yuriy Kotsyubynsky
• Nikolai Podvoisky
• Valeriy Mezhlauk
• Vasyl Herasymenko

See also

• Prime minister of Ukraine
• Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

References