The Verkhovna Rada has appointed Colonel-General Mykhailo Koval as Ukraine's acting defense minister.

A total of 251 MPs out of the 314 registered in the session hall voted for the respective decision on Tuesday.

Koval was nominated for this post by Ukraine's acting president and Verkhovna Rada speaker, Oleksandr Turchynov, who registered an appropriate draft resolution in parliament on Tuesday.

"He [Koval] is a professional serviceman. He commanded a parachute battalion and a tank division, held the post of Internal Troops chief of staff, and served as deputy head of the State Border Guard Service for quite a long period of time," Turchynov said.

Koval replaced Ihor Teniukh, whose resignation from the post of Ukraine's acting defense minister was accepted by the Verkhovna Rada earlier on Tuesday.