UPDATE - Ukraine’s parliament votes to approve Yulia Svyrydenko as prime minister

UPDATES WITH FURTHER BACKGROUND AND COMMENTS BY SVYRYDENKO FOLLOWING VOTE; REVISES DECK

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday voted to approve Yulia Svyrydenko’s appointment as the country’s new prime minister.

Lawmaker Oleksii Honcharenko wrote on Telegram that deputies of the Verkhovna Rada approved Svyrydenko for the post with 262 votes in favor.

Before the vote, Svyrydenko served as the country’s first deputy prime minister and economy minister, posts she has held since November 2021.

Svyrydenko wrote on X after the vote: "Our Government sets its course toward a Ukraine that stands firm on its own foundations — military, economic, and social. My key goal is real, positive results that every Ukrainian will feel in daily life.”

As her government's priorities for the coming six months, she listed reliable supplies for the Ukrainian army, the expansion of domestic weapons production, and boosting the technological strength of the country's defense forces.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had proposed Svyrydenko to lead the country’s government, signaling the start of a major Cabinet reshuffle as the Russia-Ukraine war rages on in its fourth year.

The resignation of Denys Shmyhal, Svyrydenko's predecessor and Ukraine's longest-serving prime minister, and his Cabinet were approved by the Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday.

With the vote, Svyrydenko became the second woman to assume the post of Ukraine’s prime minister after Yulia Tymoshenko, who held the position briefly in 2005 and later from December 2007 to March 2010.