The Foreign Ministry in Kyiv reported that Russian drones fell and detonated on Romanian territory during last night’s attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River. Attacks were carried out against Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions. No casualties reported. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, 4 landing craft were destroyed in the waters of the Black Sea, and drones were shot down in the region of Crimea and Kurchatov.
In his traditional midnight address, Zelensky stated that he had reached an agreement with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to train Ukrainian pilots in France. Zelensky also announced the expected replacement of the Minister of Defense.
“I decided to replace the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Oleksiy Reznikov went through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the ministry needs a new approach and other forms of interaction with both the military and society. Now Rustem Umerov should take over the ministry. The Verkhovna Rada knows this person well – Mr. Umerov needs no further introduction. I expect the parliament to approve the candidacy.”
This is among the most serious political shakeups in Ukraine since the start of the war and is part of Zelensky’s strategy to deal with corruption. The BBC described the decision as part of Kiev’s long-term plan to join the EU. Reznikov’s replacement has been talked about since February, the reason being suspicions of corruption, mainly related to the supply of the Ukrainian army. High-ranking officials have already lost their posts.
According to media reports, Reznikov was removed after yet another scandalous deal uncovered by Ukrainian investigative journalists. They claim that the jackets were purchased at an inflated price – if the supplier’s was $29, then the department paid $86 for each one, while summer outerwear was ordered instead of winter outerwear. Reznikov denies the allegations. He has already submitted his resignation to the Verkhovna Rada. According to analysts, the change of the Minister of Defense will not affect the course of military operations.
Who is the person who will succeed Reznikov – Rustem Umerov is a Crimean Tatar, born in 1982 in Uzbekistan, but has lived in Crimea since childhood. He started his career in 2004 in a telecommunications company. Since August 2019, he has been a member of parliament from the independent party faction of “Golos”, secretary of the Commission on Human Rights, De-occupation and Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories. And from 2022 he heads the State Property Fund. One of the first comments about his current appointment is that while he was in charge there was not a single scandal.