Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov will be replaced, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party announced on Sunday evening. The news agencies Reuters and AFP write that.
He will move to the post of minister for strategic industries, according to the state-run Ukrainian news agency Ukrainian form.
It is the military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov who is now stepping up as Minister of Defense for Ukraine.
Professor Sven Gabriel Holtsmark at the institute for defense studies tells TV 2 that the replacement of Ukraine’s defense minister does not show any particular tension.
– Rezikov continues in his new position. There does not therefore appear to be any drama in this, and it was all expected, says Holtsmark and points out that the Ukrainian government has announced that Reznikov will get a new ministerial job.
PROFESSOR: Sven G. Holtsmark at the Department of Defense Studies. Photo: Christian Roth Christensen / TV 2
– Completely logical
Zelenskyi’s party also does not believe that there is anything dramatic about the replacement, and gives this explanation for it happening:
– War dictates personnel policy. Time and circumstances require strengthening and regrouping. This is happening now and will happen in the future, says the leader of Zelenskyi’s party, David Arakhamia, on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.
– Therefore, Oleksiy Reznikov is transferred to the position of Minister of Strategic Industries to strengthen military-industrial cooperation, which is completely logical in view of his expertise on “Ramstein” and the need to raise the ministry that should do more,
He continues:
– Major General Kyrylo Budanov will lead the Ministry of Defence, which is completely logical in wartime, he adds.
Ramstein is an American-run air base in Germany where there have been several meetings between Western country officials and Ukrainian officials, including Reznikov.
Holtsmark at the Institute for Defense Studies will not speculate on why Reznikov is being outed with the military intelligence chief Budanov.
– I found no good explanation or analysis as to why the Minister of Defense was replaced. Even now, the picture is not clear, but it is part of a larger cabal of changes, believes Holtsmark.
Several removed
The replacement takes place after several of Reznikov’s subordinates have been linked to corruption cases.
– No civil servant stays in the job forever, he said earlier on Sunday in comments to the news agency Ukrinform.
– According to the Constitution, the decision on whether someone should be the Minister of Defense or not is made by one person – the Commander-in-Chief and the President of Ukraine, he said further.
Reznikov has rejected all accusations as attempts to undermine confidence in the Ministry of Defense in a difficult time.
Zelenksyj has replaced and removed several officials who have been accused of corruption in recent weeks.
Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/AP
– The situation is very difficult
Zelenskyj spoke on Sunday about how the war in Donetsk is going.
– Violent fighting in Donetsk county, the situation is very difficult, he says and continues:
– Russia is intensifying press on several fronts and in the form of information towards the first anniversary of the war.
Donbas, which includes the two eastern Ukrainian counties of Donetsk and Luhansk, became the stated target of Russia this spring, after failing to take control of large parts of Ukraine and oust the current government.
Last autumn, Ukrainian forces managed to liberate, among other things, the strategically important city of Kherson in the south as well as several villages in the north, in Kharkiv county.
But in Donetsk there has been quite a bit of movement on the front lines recently, until Russia won the battle for the small village of Soledar in Donetsk a few weeks ago.
This is how the front lines looked on Thursday:
Photo: Jørgen Herland/TV 2
