Ukraine appoints Ivan Fedorov to lead State Agency for Restoration, Semikin named acting Zaporizhzhia governor
On 4 September, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers appointed Ivan Fedorov, previously head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast State Administration, as head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development. President Volodymyr Zelensky separately signed decrees dismissing Fedorov from the Zaporizhzhia post and appointing his deputy Mykhailo Semikin as acting head of the oblast administration. The reshuffle also saw the dismissal of the agency's previous head, Serhiy Sukhomlin, and its first deputy head.
Key points
- On 4 September, the Cabinet of Ministers appointed Ivan Fedorov as head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development.
- Fedorov was dismissed the same day as head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast State Administration.
- Serhiy Sukhomlin, who had led the agency since September 2024, was dismissed; first deputy head Mykola Boyko was also dismissed.
- Anna Sdobnova was dismissed as deputy head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance for digital development.
- President Zelensky signed decree No. 871/2026 dismissing Fedorov from the Zaporizhzhia OVA and decree No. 872/2026 appointing Mykhailo Semikin as acting head.
- Fedorov had headed the Zaporizhzhia OVA since February 2024 and previously served as mayor of Melitopol from 2020.
- Fedorov announced on 3 September that Zelensky had proposed he take over the agency; he said he would combine the role with remaining co-chair of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Defense Council.
Why it matters
The State Agency for Restoration is the central executive body tasked with protecting and rebuilding strategically important infrastructure across wartime Ukraine, making its leadership a consequential wartime personnel decision. Fedorov moves from running a frontline oblast to a nationwide reconstruction role, bringing direct experience of front-line conditions. The simultaneous dismissal of the agency's head and first deputy head alongside the change in Zaporizhzhia points to a broader reshuffle in reconstruction governance.
What happened
On 4 September, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine appointed Ivan Fedorov as head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, replacing Serhiy Sukhomlin, who had led the agency since September 2024 and submitted his resignation on 29 July. First deputy head Mykola Boyko was also dismissed. The Cabinet simultaneously agreed to Fedorov's dismissal as head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast State Administration, and President Zelensky signed decree No. 871/2026 formalising that dismissal in accordance with Fedorov's own application. By decree No. 872/2026, Zelensky temporarily assigned the duties of Zaporizhzhia OVA head to Mykhailo Semikin, who had been deputy head of the oblast administration since May 2024 and previously worked as deputy mayor of Melitopol from 2022 to 2024. Separately, Anna Sdobnova was dismissed as deputy head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance for digital development. The decisions were communicated via Telegram by the Cabinet's representative in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian outlets framed Fedorov's appointment as a promotion of a proven front-line manager, foregrounding his biography as the Melitopol mayor abducted by Russian forces in March 2022 and his subsequent leadership of the frontline Zaporizhzhia region. Coverage stressed the synchronized Cabinet decision and Zelensky's decrees Nos. 871/2026 and 872/2026 as a coherent transition of power. Several outlets noted that Russian propaganda outlets published the story using a photo of Mykhailo Fedorov by mistake, and cited political analyst Oleh Saakian's suggestion on Radio NV that the phonetic similarity of the two surnames may have influenced the timing of the announcement.
Where reporting differs
Sources disagree on the number of Russian prisoners exchanged for Fedorov's release in March 2022: most say nine Russian conscripts or soldiers, while one article reports six Russian servicemembers after about six days in captivity. They also differ on Fedorov's exact role with the Zaporizhzhia Regional Defense Council — co-chair according to some, deputy head according to others. Mykhailo Semikin's date of birth is given as either 29 August 1988 or 22 May 1986, both in Melitopol, and one source describes him as having previously been first deputy head of the Zaporizhzhia OVA while another calls him simply 'one of the deputies' of Fedorov.
Background
The State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development is a central executive body that implements state policy on infrastructure restoration and development, coordinated by the Cabinet of Ministers through the relevant Deputy Prime Minister — the Minister of Communities and Territories Development. Ivan Fedorov was elected mayor of Melitopol in 2020; after Russian forces entered the city on 25 February 2022, he refused to cooperate with them and was abducted on 11 March 2022, an event captured on surveillance cameras. He was released on 16 March 2022 in a prisoner exchange. Zelensky appointed him head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast State Administration by decree in February 2024. Serhiy Sukhomlin, formerly mayor of Zhytomyr, had headed the State Agency for Restoration since September 2024 and submitted his resignation of his own volition on 29 July.