Jakarta –
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky removed Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov. Zelensky then appointed a Muslim politician to replace Reznikov.
Reported by AFP, Monday (4/9/2023), Reznikov was appointed three months before the invasion of Moscow in February 2022. He led negotiations for Kyiv to equip its troops with modern weaponry from the allies.
His dismissal comes amid a backlash against Kyiv and Ukraine’s fight against corruption at the request of the European Union.
Reznikov is a 57-year-old lawyer with little military experience. He has been one of the most prominent figures in the war effort in Ukraine.
Zelensky said Reznikov had lived through many days during the full-scale war. According to Zelensky, currently the Ministry of Defense needs a new approach.
“Oleksiy Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war,” he said Zelensky in his speech.
“I believe the ministry needs a new approach and other forms of interaction both with the military and the wider community,” he added.
Reznikov is also known to be one of the most prominent faces in the war effort in Ukraine and led Kyiv in negotiations to secure supplies of modern weapons from its Western allies.
But when the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense was hit by a corruption scandal earlier this year, Reznikov managed to keep his post. Although the Deputy Minister of Defense was forced to resign after the Ministry of Defense was accused of signing food contracts at prices two to three times higher than the current price of staple foods.
Announcing an internal audit of his ministry’s procurement procedures, Reznikov acknowledged that his ministry’s anti-corruption division had “failed” to carry out its duties and needed to be “fully rebooted”.
(dwia/az)
2023-09-04 15:00:40
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