Skip to the story
All StoriesPoliticsConflict & SecurityBusiness & EconomyScience & TechHealthClimateMedia
All stories
Politics73 outlets ran this5 min read

Ukraine parliament confirms Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister after Fedorov dismissal

President Zelensky’s nominee approved by 312 votes amid protests over predecessor’s removal and calls for delayed elections

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
Ukraine parliament confirms Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister after Fedorov dismissal

What this story says

  • Ukraine’s parliament approved Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister on 19 August 2026, with 312 votes in favour and 2 against.
  • Khmara, a former SBU intelligence official, replaces Mykhailo Fedorov, whose dismissal sparked protests in multiple cities.
  • President Zelensky nominated Khmara after appointing him acting minister in July 2026, citing his experience in special operations.
  • Fedorov, in a video statement, called for elections that have been postponed due to Russia’s invasion.

Who covered it

Left 35%(12)Centre 30%(10)Right 35%(12)

Percentages are shares of the 34 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 39 of the 73 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

80/100

Craft

75/100

Hype

15/100

73 sources · methodology

Ukraine’s parliament confirmed Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister on 19 August 2026. The Verkhovna Rada voted 312 in favour and 2 against his appointment, which President Volodymyr Zelensky had proposed. Khmara, previously head of the SBU’s Special Operations Center, had served as acting minister since July 2026 following the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov.

Fedorov’s removal triggered protests in several Ukrainian cities. In a video statement released the day before Khmara’s confirmation, Fedorov called for elections, which have been postponed since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Zelensky described Khmara as possessing "unprecedented experience with technological combat operations" when appointing him acting minister.

Khmara addressed parliament before the vote, pledging to "defend Ukraine, reduce Russia’s war potential, and force the enemy into a just peace." His official biography states he has been involved in combat operations since 2014, including leading units behind enemy lines during Russia’s 2022 invasion. Little is publicly known about his personal life, and his date and place of birth are omitted from official records.

Disagreement over vote count

The number of votes in favour of Khmara’s appointment is reported as 312 by most outlets, including Dnevni list Danas, Reuters, and The Economic Times. The Sunday Guardian Live, however, reported 321 votes in favour. No outlet provided a breakdown of the discrepancy.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mentioned Fedorov’s video statement calling for elections. The left-rated digests did not report opposition lawmaker Solomiya Bobrovska’s criticism of Khmara’s appointment, as carried by The Economic Times. Only lrytas.lt and Korrespondent.net, both unrated, noted that Khmara had resigned from military service to comply with Ukrainian law.

“Ukraine needs more strength. And it will have it.”

— Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine

312

Votes in favour of Khmara’s appointment

Two votes against, 20 abstentions

Tags:#UkrainePolitics#DefenceMinister#VerkhovnaRada#ZelenskyReshuffle#RussiaUkraineWar

Coverage settled. We checked this 9 times and stopped on 25 Aug 2026, 00:30. The figures above are what it finished at.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Newly appointed Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara attends a session of the Ukrainian parliament.
The Economic TimesCentre

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

12 rated outlets

  • The five left-rated digests led on Khmara’s appointment and the protests that followed Fedorov’s dismissal. Dnevni list Danas, whose full report is printed below, described the protests as a response to Zelensky’s decision to replace Fedorov. It quoted Khmara’s military background, including his role in reorganising the SBU’s Special Operations Center, and noted his promotion to major-general in 2024.
  • Dnevni list Danas also reported that Khmara’s official biography omits his date and place of birth. The outlet framed the appointment as part of a broader reshuffle that had provoked public backlash. Cumhuriyet and watson, in their digests, similarly highlighted the protests and Khmara’s intelligence background.

Centre

10 rated outlets

  • The five centre-rated digests focused on the parliamentary vote and the political context of Khmara’s appointment. The Economic Times, whose full report is printed below, led on the divisive nature of the reshuffle and Fedorov’s call for elections. It quoted Zelensky’s statement that Ukraine "needs more strength" and Khmara’s pledge to "reduce Russia’s war potential."
  • The Economic Times also reported opposition lawmaker Solomiya Bobrovska’s criticism of Khmara’s move from the SBU to the defence ministry, calling it a "mistake" but acknowledging his strength as a military leader. Bloomberg and Reuters, in their digests, emphasised the domestic tensions surrounding the reshuffle and Zelensky’s efforts to "defuse" them.

Right

12 rated outlets

  • All eight right-rated digests report that Ukraine’s parliament confirmed Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister following Mykhailo Fedorov’s dismissal. Seven note the appointment followed a cabinet reshuffle. Six describe public or political backlash to Fedorov’s removal.
  • Five digests lead on the controversy surrounding Fedorov’s dismissal or the resulting protests. Four mention Fedorov’s call for wartime elections. Three identify Khmara as a former intelligence or special forces official. None of the digests include a statement from Khmara or a Ukrainian government source supporting his appointment.
  • Two digests state that Khmara resigned from military service before taking office. One describes the reshuffle as triggering a political crisis. None of the digests report on Khmara’s policy plans or military strategy beyond generic references to countering Russian aggression.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Ukraine parliament confirms Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister after…?
Of the 34 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 35% are rated left, 30% are rated centre, 35% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 73. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Ukraine parliament confirms Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister after… left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 34 rated outlets on this story, 35% are rated left, 30% are rated centre, 35% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Ukraine parliament confirms Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister after… biased?
Ukraine parliament confirms Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister after Fedorov dismissal is one event reported by 73 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which outlets covered Ukraine parliament confirms Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister after…?
73 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Who is Yevhenii Khmara?
Yevhenii Khmara is Ukraine’s new defence minister, approved by parliament on 19 August 2026. He previously served as head of the SBU’s Special Operations Center and as acting minister since July 2026. His official biography states he has been involved in combat operations since 2014.
Why was Mykhailo Fedorov dismissed as defence minister?
Mykhailo Fedorov was dismissed as Ukraine’s defence minister in July 2026, sparking protests in several cities. President Zelensky replaced him with Yevhenii Khmara, citing the need for "unprecedented experience in technological combat operations." Fedorov later called for elections in a video statement.
How many votes did Khmara’s appointment receive?
Khmara’s appointment as defence minister was approved by 312 votes in Ukraine’s parliament, with 2 votes against and 20 abstentions. One outlet, The Sunday Guardian Live, reported 321 votes in favour, but this figure was not corroborated by other sources.
What did Khmara say in his parliamentary speech?
Yevhenii Khmara pledged to "defend Ukraine, reduce Russia’s war potential as much as possible, and force the enemy into a just peace" during his parliamentary address. He also announced his resignation from military service to comply with Ukrainian law, as reported by lrytas.lt and Korrespondent.net.

Read it at the source

73 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

12
Show 4 more

Centre

10
Show 2 more

Right

12
Show 4 more

Not rated

39
Show 31 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

More in Politics

All Politics →
Vladimir Putin și Donald Trump. Foto: Profimedia4 min readUS-Russia talks on Ukraine include Lukoil oil dealRead storyPutin says Modi has 'good ideas' for Ukraine conflict settlement2 min readPutin says Modi has 'good ideas' for Ukraine conflict settlementRead storySouth Korea threatens Ukraine over North Korean soldier transfer3 min readSouth Korea threatens Ukraine over North Korean soldier transferRead story

Elsewhere on the site

Zelensky claims Putin ordered military to ignore war rulesConflict & Security•3 min readZelensky claims Putin ordered military to ignore war rules
How left, centre and right covered Ukraine's defence minister change | MediaBias News