Kyiv's defence ministry reshuffle talk and a church calendar change
A look back at political announcements made in the days before 7 February 2023, from a proposed defence minister swap to a church calendar decision.
What was being said in Kyiv's political circles on 7 February 2023? Two announcements from the preceding days framed the moment, one about the government and one about public religious life.
On 5 February 2023, People's Deputy of Ukraine Davyd Arakhamia announced that the head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, would replace Oleksii Reznikov as Minister of Defense. The announcement followed a corruption scandal. By 7 February, the proposed change had been public for two days.
The second announcement came on 6 February 2023 from the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk. He said the church would begin using the Gregorian calendar from 1 September for all feasts except movable ones, in line with a decision of the Synod of Bishops.
The two items were unrelated, but both were in public view on 7 February 2023: one concerned who would lead the defence ministry, the other how a major church would mark its feast days.
