Ukraine To Replace Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov

Ukraine is set to replace Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov with the chief of its military spy agency, a close ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in a reshuffle at the forefront of Ukraine's war campaign, Tom Balmforth reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Reznikov during a meeting with US counterpart, Lloyd Austin

Reznikov would be transferred to another ministerial job and replaced by Kyrylo Budanov, head of the GUR military intelligence agency, said David Arakhamia, a senior lawmaker and chief of Servant of the People parliamentary bloc.

There was no immediate statement from Zelenskiy on replacing Reznikov, a former lawyer who became defense minister in November 2021, a few months before Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. Arakhamia did not say when the move would be formalized.

"War dictates changes in personnel policy," Arakhamia said on the Telegram messaging app.

Reznikov's reshuffle would be the highest profile government change in a slew of resignations and sackings following a corruption scandal late last month and Zelenskiy's pledge for Ukraine to meet Western standards of clean governance.

Arakhamia said that Ukraine's "force" agencies - like the defense ministry - should not be headed by politicians during wartime, but people with a background in defense or security. He added that Reznikov would be made minister of strategic industries.

Reznikov, who had said earlier on Sunday that any decision on a reshuffle was up to Zelenskiy, told the Ukrainian Fakty ICTV online media later in the evening that the transfer to the new ministry was news to him.

"If I suddenly received such an offer from the president of Ukraine or the prime minister, I would refuse it, because I do not have the expertise," Reznikov was cited as saying.

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