Ukranian President, Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the war-time Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov stating that the country needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole as the war with Russia enters its 19th month.
Zelensky made the announcement on Monday, saying: “I have decided to replace the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Oleksii Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war”.
The President replaced him with a former people’s deputy of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov.
The exit of lawyer-turned-politician Reznikov marks the biggest shakeup of Ukraine’s defence establishment during the war launched by Russia in February 2022.
While he secured billions of dollars of Western military aid to help the war effort, Reznikov has been dogged by graft allegations surrounding his ministry that he described as smears.
This comes as Russia launched a major drone strike on Ukraine’s grain exporting port in Odesa region this morning.
The three-and-a-half-hour long drone assault damaged warehouses and set buildings on fire just hours before Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, were due to hold talks on the halted grain deal.
The sacked defense minister, Reznikov submitted his resignation on Monday.
