Ukraine’s Defense Minister Reznikov to resign, successor selected – MP Reveals

Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, will resign, and his position will be filled by the current head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund (SPFU), Rustem Umerov, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced via Telegram on Aug. 31.

Reznikov will become Ukraine’s ambassador to Great Britain and "rumors of problems with approval have not been confirmed," Zheleznyak said. Previous rumors of Reznikov becoming an ambassador were dismissed by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, which urged parliamentarians "not to engage in personnel matters."

Umerov will replace Reznikov as Defense Minister, he said, adding that there is no decision on who will replace Umerov as head of the SPFU.

Ukrainian embassies were warned about this move as early as yesterday morning, said Zheleznyak, adding that the rotation could take place as early as the first week of Sept. 2023.

Oleksii Reznikov’s Possible Resignation – What's Known

Rumors of Reznikov’s resignation have been circulating since Feb. 2023, amidst a corruption scandal involving the Defense Ministry procurement of overpriced supplies for the Armed Forces.

At that time, Information surfaced that Reznikov would be transferred to the Strategic Industry Ministry, and Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), would be appointed in his place. Reznikov himself stated that he would resign if President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided on such a move.

Read also: Defense Minister Reznikov rumored to be tapped for new role – interview with MP Kostenko

In early August, ZN.UA published an investigation revealing that the Defense Ministry had signed a contract with a Turkish company for the supply of winter clothing for the military in fall 2022. Jackets ordered as "camouflage" turned into "winter air protective" coats during transit and tripled in cost.

Ukrainska Pravda released its own investigation on Aug. 25, which revealed that one of the owners of the company with which the contract was made was the nephew of Servant of the People MP, Hennady Kasai.

Reznikov denied any wrongdoing, saying he would resign if allegations that he purchased summer instead of winter uniforms were proven true. If not, Reznikov challenged Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach and MP Anastasia Radina to resign.

Reznikov stated on Aug. 28 that he had not discussed his possible resignation with Zelenskyy.  When asked whether the president had offered him the position of ambassador to Britain, he responded that he and Zelenskyy had discussed several potential projects.

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