Zelensky appoints new defence minister for Ukraine, citing need for ‘new strategies’

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has removed his defense minister from his position. He stated that there is a need for different ways of dealing with the ongoing war against Russia, which has been happening for 19 months.

This week, the parliament will be asked to choose someone new for an important job. I have decided to find someone else to be the minister of defense of Ukraine. “Oleksii Reznikov has experienced over 550 days of intense war,” Zelensky stated.

The president chose Rustem Umerov, a previous member of Ukraine’s parliament, to be the new defense minister.

The Ukrainian parliament, called the Verkhovna Rada, is familiar with this individual, and Mr. X has experience and established relationships there. Zelensky said that Umerov does not require any more introductions. I think that the parliament will help this candidate.

Umerov is currently leading the State Property Fund, which aims to bring investments to Ukraine. He has also been involved in exchanging prisoners of war. He also worked as a high-level negotiator in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and said multiple times that he didn’t think Russia would follow the agreement. Russia has stopped using the plan.

His appointment is happening at a very important time for Ukraine’s counterattack in the south. Also, it is happening as Ukraine’s relationships with its allies and people who donate enter a new stage. Ukraine is working hard to make the training and sending of F-16 combat planes faster. They also want to get other equipment and weapons to help them fight back.

Reznikov quit his job on Monday and posted on Facebook that he resigned because of a decision made by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. I am prepared for the report. “Let’s stay in line. ”

He put pictures of himself with his letter of quitting on the internet.

Reznikov became defense minister in November 2021 after working in other important government jobs, like deputy prime minister. This information can be found on the defense ministry’s website.

He was taken out of his position after some corruption scandals happened in Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense.

Zelensky got rid of a lot of important people earlier this year because of a scandal involving buying supplies during wartime. The deputy defense minister left his job after being accused of being corrupt. Then in August, Zelensky fired everyone who was in charge of getting soldiers for the military in different regions, because there were a lot of criminal cases going on.

While Reznikov has not been directly involved in any of these scandals, people still believe that his association with them has caused harm to his image.

And on Saturday, a wealthy and influential person in Ukraine named Ihor Kolomoisky, who strongly supports Zelensky, was taken into custody for being suspected of committing fraud.

Zelensky said that getting rid of corruption in Ukraine’s government is important for Kyiv to have a chance of joining NATO and the European Union, which they have been waiting for a long time.

In a report released in 2021, Transparency International found that Ukraine is the second most corrupt country in Europe, right after Russia. Worldwide, it was ranked 122nd out of 180 countries.

Zelensky became powerful quickly in 2019 because he promised to get rid of corruption in the government. Zelensky used to be a comedian and was on a popular TV show where he played the role of Ukraine’s president. He didn’t have any experience in politics before he got elected. However, he connected with the people’s strong feelings of being let down and disgusted by widespread corruption in the country.

Ukraine is now a candidate state for the EU. However, to become a full member, Kyiv must increase its efforts to address corruption, according to Brussels.