Shortly after announcing the increased production of attack drones, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was ousted by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who called for “new approaches” in the ministry when announcing Rustem Umerov’s successor.
Appointed three months before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Reznikov led negotiations in Kiev to equip his forces with modern Allied weapons. “Oleksii Reznikov has endured more than 550 days of large-scale warfare,” Zelensky said.
His departure, announced in a video late this afternoon, comes during a new phase in the fight against corruption. In January, his deputy minister Viascheslav Shapovalov was forced to resign after the defense ministry was accused of signing contracts to deliver food at prices two to three times higher.
“The stress I have suffered this year is difficult to measure precisely. I am not ashamed of anything,” Reznikov said at the time, adding: “My conscience is completely clear.” Announcing an internal audit of the tendering procedures, Reznikov admitted that the ministry’s own anti-corruption department had “failed” in its task and needed to be “completely overhauled.”
Reznikov’s departure also paves the way for a major change in Ukrainian defense circles. “I think the ministry needs new approaches and different forms of interaction with the military and with society in general,” the president said.
Zelensky appointed Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar who has been director of the State Property Fund since last year, to replace Reznikov.
Umerov was a deputy between 2019 and 2022 and was part of the negotiating team that met Russian representatives in March 2022. At the time, it was reported that both Umerov and billionaire Roman Abramovich had exhibited symptoms of poisoning, but he himself told people not to trust unverified information.
Source: DN
