After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked its wartime Oleksii Reznikov, he nominated Rustem Umerov as Ukraine’s new defence minister, saying that the ministry needs ‘new approaches’ as the war with Russia enters its 19th month.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year, Reznikov has been in the limelight taking over the charge of the defence ministry. Meanwhile, the Russian-Ukraine war has claimed numerous lives and still continues to escalate between the two countries.
Amid the situation, President Zelensky took to his social media and nominated Rustem Umerov, the former people’s deputy of Ukraine, to become the new defence minister.
Sharing a video message on X (formerly known as Twitter), Volodymyr Zelensky said, “Now Rustem Umerov should lead the ministry. The Verkhovna Rada (legislature) of Ukraine knows this person well, and Umerov does not need any additional introductions.”
“I expect parliament to support this candidate,” he added.
Earlier, he dismissed his wartime Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov. In the video message, the Ukrainian leader said, “I have decided to replace the minister of defence of Ukraine. Oleksii Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both military and society at large.”
Notably, Reznikov’s removal came when the country’s defence ministry was involved in several corruption scandals. While Reznikov has not responded to any of them, the scandals have still been seen to damage him by association, according to the media reports.
In the video message, Zelensky also said that rooting out corruption across Ukraine’s government is vital to Kyiv’s chances of attaining long-awaited membership in NATO and the European Union. He made cracking down on internal scandals a central issue in his campaign for office.
On Saturday, Ukraine’s one of the most powerful oligarchs and a key Zelensky supporter, Ihor Kolomoisky, was arrested as part of a fraud investigation, said the media reports. A Kyiv court ordered Kolomoisky to 60 days in pre-trial detention, meanwhile, the authorities are investigating fraud charges against him.
One of the most powerful oligarchs, Kolomoisky’s media and banking businesses have made him one of the richest men in Ukraine.
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