Powerful Interior Minister Avakov Resigns

Ukrainian politics has been rocked by the snap resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. There has been no official reason given for his stepping down after seven years heading the interior ministry, a tenure that makes him Ukraine's longest-serving minister in its democratic history.

• The resignation offer must now be debated and voted upon by members of parliament.
• A 2020 article in the Kyiv Post called Avakov Ukraine's "second-in-command" after President Volodymyr Zelensky, who praised him as "one of the most effective state officials."
• Avakov came to office in 2014 following the Maidan protests that ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, and in his tenure served under two presidents and four prime ministers of different political stripes.
• There have been criticisms of Avakov that he did not implement sufficient reforms to the police during his time in office, but this hardly seemed to dent his seeming impenetrability to political damage.