Ukrainian parliament elects new speaker

Ruslan Stefanchuk

KIEV, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian lawmakers on Friday have voted to appoint Ruslan Stefanchuk, a lawmaker from the ruling party Servant of the People, as the new speaker of the parliament.

The nomination of Stefanchuk, who previously served as the first deputy speaker, was endorsed by 261 lawmakers in the 450-seat assembly, the parliament's press service said in a statement.

Stefanchuk replaced Dmytro Razumkov, who was dismissed by lawmakers on Thursday over his alleged failure to adhere to ruling party principles.

Stefanchuk, 45, played a key role in the 2019 presidential campaign supervising the work of expert groups. He also served as an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky and his representative in parliament.