Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Serhiy Shefir from the position of First Assistant to the President of Ukraine. The corresponding decree No. 207/2024 was published on the website of the Office of the President.
In addition, Zelensky dismissed Mykhailo Radutsky, Serhiy Trofimov, and Oleh Ustenko from their positions as his non-staff advisors. Zelensky also dismissed Natalia Pushkareva from her position as the head of state's authorized representative for volunteer activities, and Alena Verbytska from her position as advisor - authorized representative of the president of Ukraine for ensuring the rights of human rights defenders in Ukraine.
What is known about those dismissed? Serhiy Shefir is a longtime friend and business partner of Zelensky, co-owner of the Kvartal 95 studio. He has held the position of first assistant to the head of state since May 21, 2019. According to media reports, it was to him that Zelensky transferred his share of Kvartal 95 on the eve of the 2019 presidential election. In September 2021, Shefir was attacked - his car was fired upon from a machine gun in the Kyiv region, the driver was injured, but Shefir himself was not injured. The President's Office linked the attack on Shefir to the law on de-oligarchization.
Mykhailo Radutsky became a non-staff advisor to the president on July 30, 2019. He is a People's Deputy from the Servant of the People party and the president of the Boris clinic. Previously, in 2014-2015, he was an advisor to the head of the Kyiv City State Administration, Vitaliy Klitschko. In 2013, an episode of the Russian TV show Battle of Psychics was released with Radutsky's participation, in which the participants tried to "read the thoughts from his head.".
Serhiy Trofimov has been an advisor to Zelensky since November 4, 2020, and before that, until November, he was the first deputy head of the President's Office and was responsible for regional policy. Even earlier, he worked as an executive producer at the Kvartal-95 studio.
Oleg Ustenko has been an advisor to the head of state since May 28, 2019. He is an economist and a member of the supervisory board of the international Blazer Foundation. In 2014, he was the director of the Center for World Economy and International Relations of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He is also a member of the National Investment Council.
Natalia Pushkareva has been the presidential commissioner for volunteer activities since December 4, 2019. In the fall of 2023, volunteers criticized her for inaction. They tried to have the official removed by means of a petition to the president.
Alena Verbytska was appointed to the position on October 13, 2021. Prior to that, she was engaged in human rights activities in the security and defense sector. Verbytska is also the head of the Advisory Council on Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Defenders of Ukraine.
It is obvious that the president decided to inject new blood into the team, which could have simply burned out and lost efficiency after years of hard work. In addition, in 2019, people probably came to power pursuing their own goals, to which the war made significant adjustments. Therefore, it is possible that all those dismissed were dismissed of their own free will. Another question is who will take the vacant positions.
