KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mentioned on Sunday he had determined to dismiss Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov from his publish and would ask parliament this week to interchange him with Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s foremost privatisation fund.
The announcement, made in his nightly video tackle to the nation, units the stage for the most important shakeup of Ukraine’s defence institution throughout the struggle launched by Russia in February 2022.
Reznikov, who was named defence minister in November 2021, has helped safe billions of {dollars} of Western army assist to assist the struggle effort, however been dogged by graft allegations surrounding his ministry that he described as smears.
“I’ve determined to interchange the Minister of Protection of Ukraine. Oleksii Reznikov has been via greater than 550 days of full-scale struggle,” Zelenskiy mentioned.
“I consider the ministry wants new approaches and different codecs of interplay with each the army and society as an entire.”
The change of defence minister should be permitted by parliament, however is more likely to be supported by a majority of lawmakers within the Verkhovna Rada. Zelenskiy mentioned he anticipated parliament to approve Umerov’s appointment.
Umerov, a 41-year-old ex-lawmaker who’s a Crimean Tatar, has headed Ukraine’s State Property Fund since September 2022 and has performed a task in delicate wartime negotiations on, for example, the Black Sea grain deal.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Anna Pruchnicka; Enhancing by Diane Craft)