2023-09-03 23:07:54
Time.news – Volodymyr Zelensky ha replaced the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Oleksiy Reznikov’s place will be taken by Rustem Umyerov. The decision, taken amid the Ukrainian counter-offensive in Russian-occupied areas, must be ratified by Parliament. “I have decided to replace the Minister of Defense of Ukraine.” wrote Zelensky in his Telegram profile,
Oleksiy Reznikov went through more than 550 days of war on a large scale. I believe that the Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction both with the military and with society as a whole. The Ministry is now headed by Rustem Umyerov“.
Ukrainian Pravda writes that Rustem Umerov was so far the head of the State Property Fund. On 10 August he wrote that Zelensky was looking for a replacement for Reznikov and on 19 the defense minister said he considered his position “temporary” and that he was ready to resign. Reznikov said on August 28 that he had discussed with the President the possibility of moving to another post
Umerov was an adviser to Mustafa Dzhemilev, head of the organization of the “Crimean Tatar people” and was a member of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation with Russia last spring. The Russian agency RIA Novosti recalls that two candidates had been considered for the post of Ukrainian defense minister: Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kubrakov and Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin.
Rada deputy Alexey Goncharenko later reported that both eligible candidates had turned down the post. In turn, the Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak had stated that the current defense minister would be appointed ambassador to Great Britain, while Umerov would take his place. Reznikov had been Ukraine’s defense minister since November 2021, three months before the Russian invasion and led efforts to equip Ukrainian forces with allies’ modern weapons.
The 57-year-old lawyer with little military experience has become one of the best known faces of the country’s war effort. After helping to check Russia’s advance in the early months of the war, he spent much of his time rallying support from Kiev’s allies. Over time, he persuaded the allies to supply Ukraine with more and more weapons, including US Patriot air defense systems, heavy tanks and howitzers.
More recently he led the effort to have F-16s. After the United States authorized Denmark and the Netherlands last month to transfer F-16 jets to Ukraine, she tweeted that “it looks like Santa does exist.” But his ministry has been hit by corruption scandals. Reznikov retained his post in January, but his deputy was forced to resign after the Defense Ministry was accused of having signed food contracts at two or three times higher prices to the current ones for basic genres.
“The stress I’ve endured this year is difficult to measure accurately. I’m not ashamed of anything,” Rezhnikov said at the time, adding: “My conscience is absolutely clear.”
Born in Lvov, Rezhnikov joined the army after school and served in the Soviet-era military as a paratrooper before going to university to become a lawyer. In 2004 he legally represented future president Viktor Yushchenko in his fight to overturn the sham election, securing a new vote Yushchenko won.
It later became deputy mayor of Kievresponsible for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv in 2017 and the UEFA Champions League Final in 2018. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group, negotiating with Russia and OSCE observers in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to end fighting with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
In 2020, he joined President Volodymyr Zelensky’s team and was appointed deputy prime minister responsible for the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories. He was appointed defense minister in 2021. Introducing Rezhnikov to parliament, Zelensky said his main task would be to “strengthen the defense capability of the army.” Russia launched its invasion on February 24, 2022.
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