The Russian Invasion|Ukraine's Response

The Russian Invasion|Ukraine's Response 

Analysis: Zelenskyi's ouster was only a matter of time  

 

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has had "nine lives". That's what SR correspondent Lubna El-Shanti says after the news that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is poking Reznikov from the post.

  

The Minister of Defense, unlike the proposed replacement Rustem Umerov, has been involved in a series of corruption scandals. Among other things, it has been about food being bought in for the defense at "unreasonable prices".  

 

- He has been hanging loose for a very long time. So it was only a matter of time before Reznikov was poked.  

 

Christopher Miller, who covers Ukraine for the Financial Times, writes on X, formerly Twitter, that the Ukrainian parliament is likely to vote through the change in the coming days. 

 

He describes Umerov as an experienced negotiator with good relations with allies in the West. He is also Crimean Tatar, which may be of importance to Kyiv's focus on the annexed peninsula, writes Miller. 

 

Oleksij Reznikov Bo Amstrup / Ritzau Scanpix  

 

Ukraine's defense minister is poked by Zelenskyi: "A new way of working is needed"  

 

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov is being pushed from the post, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces on Telegram.  

 

Zelenskyj justifies his decision with the fact that "the department needs a new way of working and other forms of interaction both with the military and with society as a whole". 

 

Reuters news agency describes it as the biggest change in Ukrainian defense leadership since the full-scale Russian invasion.  

 

Reznikov has been Minister of Defense for over 550 days. 

 

Zelenskyy has nominated Rustem Umerov as the new defense minister and asked the parliament to vote through the proposal. 

 

"I expect the parliament's support," Zelensky writes.