Ukraine's Zelenskiy appoints former arms production minister as adviser

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appointed on Sunday former arms production minister Oleksandr Kamyshin as an external adviser for strategic issues, a decree published on the presidential website said.

Kamyshin, who was the minister for strategic industries and oversaw arms production, resigned last week as part of a Ukrainian government shake-up at a critical juncture in the war with Russia.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine needed "new energy" and ordered the biggest government reshuffle since the start of Russia's invasion in February 2022.

Last week the Ukrainian parliament voted to appoint nine new ministers including the foreign minister and two deputy prime ministers.

On Sunday, Zelenskiy took more steps to reset his team and published several decrees on new appointments in his office.

"I will continue to work for our defence industry," Kamyshin said on the Telegram messaging app shortly after his appointment.

He said he would also look after other strategically important directions but did not elaborate.

Kamyshin oversaw a significant increase in Ukraine's domestic arms production amid the fighting and was a driving force in efforts to bring more Western financing, experience, and technologies into the Ukrainian weapon production industry.

Zelenskiy also appointed Viktor Mykyta, the governor of the western Zakarpattia region, as a new deputy head of his office to oversee the regions.

Mykyta said that one of his key tasks would be to ensure the efficient work of military administrations in the regions and develop communication and trust between authorities, local communities and businesses.

(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Hugh Lawson and David Evans)