Ukrainian parliament opens way for appointment of new defence minister

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian parliament approved the dismissal of Oleksii Reznikov as defence minister and Rustem Umerov as head of the main privatisation agency on Tuesday, clearing the way for Umerov to take over from Reznikov.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he was sacking Reznikov and proposed Umerov to replace him. To do so, he required parliament to approve their removal from their current roles and to support Umerov’s appointment as defence minister.

Parliament completed the first stage of the process in two separate votes on Tuesday, and is expected to back Umerov’s appointment in a vote on Wednesday. Reznikov resigned on Monday.

The moves amount to the biggest shakeup of the defence establishment in 18 months of war with Russia.

Reznikov has been at the forefront of Kyiv’s lobbying for Western weapons to fight Russia’s invasion, but his departure after months of corruption allegations against his ministry is not expected to have a big impact on military operations.

Confirming parliament had voted to remove Reznikov, the Defence Ministry hailed his work and listed some of the weapons Ukraine has received since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“He held this office for 22 months and made the impossible possible by ensuring large-scale arms supplies for the #UAarmy from the free world,” it said on social media platform X.

It added that F-16 fighter jets, which Kyiv has not received so far, “will make Ukraine’s victory inevitable.”

The outcome of the vote to remove Umerov from his current post was confirmed by several lawmakers who attended the parliamentary session.

Umerov, 41, is a Crimean Tatar and former lawmaker who since 2020 has been a member of a government task force working on strategy to end the occupation of Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014.

(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka, Editing by Timothy Heritage)