Zelenskyy reshuffles inner circle, dismissing six advisors including long-time ally

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed six of his advisors. Among them is Serhiy Shefir - a long-standing friend and former business partner of Zelenskyy. Also dismissed were independent advisors responsible for volunteering and ensuring rights for Ukrainian defenders.

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The decrees signed by Zelenskyy were published on the legal acts system website on Saturday. Among those dismissed is Serhiy Shefir, the first assistant to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Shefir has been Zelenskyy's business partner for many years at "Quarter 95" Studio, a Ukrainian comedy group founded in 2003 by comedians under Zelenskyy's direction.

Shefir has been an advisor to Zelenskyy since May 2019. On 22 September 2021, around 9 AM Greenwich Time near the village of Lesniki near Kyiv, unknown assailants fired at the car Shefir was in. 18 bullets hit the vehicle. Shefir's driver was wounded, but he himself was unharmed. Following the incident, Zelenskyy recorded a video message stating that he "does not know who is behind the attempt on his first assistant" but promised a "decisive response".

According to Ukrainian Pravda, before the war, Shefir served as a "link" between business and the office of Zelenskyy.

Oleh Ustenko lost his position as an economic advisor, which he had held since May 2019. Ustenko is a graduate of Harvard. In 2014, he was the director of the World Economy and International Relations Center at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. In June 2019, he became a member of the National Investment Council of Ukraine.

Serhiy Trofimov became the first deputy head of Zelenskyy's office in May 2019. A month later, he was dismissed; however, Zelenskyy assigned him the role of an independent advisor.

Mykhailo Radutskyi served as an external advisor. On 29 August 2019, he was elected chairman of the committee for national health, medical care, and health insurance in the Supreme Council of Ukraine IX convocation. He was also the head of the group for inter-parliamentary relations with the Republic of Moldova and the Kingdom of Thailand.

Alona Verbytska in 2021 was appointed by Zelenskyy to the position of advisor - authorized by the president - for ensuring the rights of Ukrainian defenders. Verbytska held the role of advisor for Ensuring Guarantees of Rights and Fundamental Freedoms for Persons who participated in the defense of Ukraine.

Natalia Pushkarova, also dismissed by Zelenskyy, has been serving as an independent advisor on volunteer activities since 2019.

On Friday, Zelenskyy fired the deputy heads of his office - Andriy Smyrnov and Oleksiy Dniprov. He appointed Iryna Mudra and Olena Kovalska as their replacements.

Then on Tuesday, Zelenskyy dismissed Oleksiy Danilov from the position of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, who is to be dispatched to a diplomatic post.

By another decree, Zelenskyy appointed the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, 51-year-old Oleksandr Lytvynenko, to this position.