2023-09-04 01:38:08
Roustem Oumerov, announced Sunday evening by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as the next defense minister, is a prominent leader of the Crimean Tatar community who has represented Kyiv in sensitive negotiations with Moscow.
• Read also: Zelensky replaces his defense minister
Mr Umerov, 41, was born in what was then the Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, where his family had been exiled under Stalin, and he was a child when his family resettled in Crimea when the Tatars were allowed to return there , in the 80s and 90s.
He started in the telecom industry in 2004, and has been an MP since 2019.
In parliament, he was co-chairman of the Crimean Platform, which coordinated international diplomatic efforts to reverse Russia’s 2014 annexation of the peninsula.
For many years he was an adviser to the historical leader of the Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Dzhemilev.
❗️ [ ???????? RUSSIE | ???????? UKRAINE ]
???? Volodymyr Zelensky says that the Ukrainian Defense Minister, represented until now by Oleksi Reznikov, will be replaced by Rustem Umerov.
???? “I think the ministry needs new approaches and other formats… pic.twitter.com/qPPNf3m0yU
— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank) September 3, 2023
Russia had its annexation of Crimea ratified by a referendum deemed illegitimate by Ukraine and its Western allies.
The Tatars, who make up 12-15% of Crimea’s population, largely boycotted the referendum.
As a result, Moscow outlawed the Mejlis, the traditional assembly of the Tatar Muslim minority, branding it an extremist organization whose many members were imprisoned.
After the annexation of Crimea, as after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Roustem Oumerov has, on several occasions, participated in discreet negotiations with Moscow, in particular on exchanges of prisoners and evacuations of civilians.
He was part of the Ukrainian delegation to the negotiations with Moscow, under the aegis of Turkey and the UN, which allowed the establishment of a maritime corridor allowing the transport of Ukrainian cereals by the Black Sea.
Russia recently pulled out of the deal, arguing that Kyiv and the West were not allowing enough Russian exports through.
In September 2022 Mr. Oumerov was appointed head of the State Property Fund, a prominent position in a country where the privatization process is plagued by corruption.
The Ministry of Defense left to him by his predecessor Oleksiï Reznikov is also cited in corruption scandals.
Announcing that he wanted to make him his next defense minister, Mr. Zelensky indicated that he would present his nomination to parliament this week.
“Parliament knows this person well and Mr. Oumerov does not need any additional presentation,” assured the Ukrainian president.
#Roustem #Oumerov #future #Ukrainian #Defense #Minister