The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyhas dismissed this Sunday the Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov and has called for “a new approach” in the ministry, a year and a half after the start of the russian invasion.
“I have decided to replace the Ukrainian Defense Minister,” Zelensky explained in his daily speech. “Oleksiy Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of large-scale war. I believe that the ministry needs a new approach and other forms of interaction both with the military and with society in general,” added the Ukrainian president.
Minister in full war
Reznikov, 56 years old, took office three months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and led the negotiations to equip his forces with modern weaponry from the allies.
His dismissal occurs in the midst of the counteroffensive launched by kyiv in June to liberate the occupied eastern and southern areas of its territory. It also comes at a time when the authorities are intensifying their fight against corruptionat the request of the European Union.
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Zelensky appointed Rustem Umerov as new head of the Defense portfolio. “Now Rustem Umerov should be the head of the Ministry” of Defence, the Ukrainian president has indicated, hoping that “Parliament will support this candidate.”
Umerov is a Tatar, an ethnic group from the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, and has headed the State Property Fund since last year.