Hounded by accusations of alleged corruption in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the head of that portfolio Oleksii Reznikov resigned from his position on September 4. His resignation comes after being asked by the country’s president, Volodimir Zelenski, who anticipated the change, citing the need for “new approaches” after more than 550 days of war with Russia. The president proposed Rustem Umerov, head of the state real estate fund and a kyiv negotiator on several key issues during the conflict.
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It is the biggest reorganization of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry since the Russian invasion, which began in February 2022.
This Monday, September 4, the leader of that portfolio, Oleksii Reznikov, presented his resignation letter, after the country’s president, Volodímir Zelenski, indicated on Sunday that the Ministry needs “new approaches”, after “more than 550 days of full-scale war.”
But the resignation also comes after numerous accusations for alleged corruption within the state body. During the ongoing war, the Defense Ministry has been embroiled in scandals related to the alleged purchase of food and clothing at inflated prices, as well as accusations by some military aid NGOs of bureaucratic problems. Reznikov denies any wrongdoing.
One of the controversies that put the Ministry of Defense in the eye of the hurricane was related to the acquisition of military jackets. Last August, Ukrainian investigative journalists reported that materials were purchased at three times the usual value and that summer jackets were ordered instead.
In the supplier’s customs documents, those pieces of clothing were priced at $29 per piece, but the Ministry of Defense paid $86 for each piece. Reznikov denied any accusation in this regard during a press conference last week.
In his resignation letter, the head of the ministry provided an overview of his 22-month tenure, praising the Ukrainian military’s fierce wartime resistance against Russian troops and his ministry’s lobbying efforts to secure aid. vital military service on the part of the West.
“More than 50% of the territories temporarily occupied by Russia have already been liberated. Every day our defenders advance (…) There is an understanding that Ukraine is a shield of Europe in the east,” he said in the letter, published on the platform X
On Sunday, Zelensky proposed as Reznikov’s replacement Rustem Umerov, a former Crimean Tatar lawmaker, currently serving as the head of the Ukrainian State Property Fund.
Umerov has been involved in the exchange of prisoners of war, political prisoners, children and civilians, as well as the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from the occupied territories. In addition, he was part of the kyiv delegation in the negotiations with Moscow on the currently suspended, UN-backed grain deal.
Putin: “We are ready to discuss the grain agreement”
This Monday, in Sochi, on the southwest coast of Russia, the long-awaited meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, took place to discuss a possible resumption of the pact that until recently allowed the movement of grain from the Black Sea, despite the fighting.
“I know that you intend to raise the issue of the grain agreement (…) We are open to negotiations on this issue,” Putin told Erdogan at the beginning of the meeting.
For his part, the Turkish president stressed that the world awaits news about this pact, whose objective has been to bring grains from Ukraine to world markets through the Black Sea and alleviate a global food crisis that, according to the United Nations, has worsened with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, for a year and a half.
“Everyone is waiting for the outcome of our meeting today… I think the message at the post-meeting press conference will be an important step for the whole world, especially for African countries,” Erdogan said.
Russia and Ukraine are two of the main agricultural producers on the planet and important players in the markets for wheat, barley, corn, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seeds and sunflower oil, which is why the war and the subsequent suspension of the agreement They hit a large part of the world’s population.
However, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that Erdogan and Putin are not expected to sign any kind of compromise on the matter on Monday.
Last July, Moscow broke the deal, saying a side pact that promised to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled.
Before the Kremlin withdrew, the Turkish-UN brokered agreement allowed around 36 million tons of grain and other staples to leave safely from three Ukrainian ports.
Since leaving the agreement, Moscow has increased its attacks against ports and facilities that serve to transport grain from the invaded nation, which despite the withdrawal of its counterpart from the pact, has tried alternative routes, such as a new corridor in the Black Sea , in the midst of Russian threats. In August, Croatia announced that it would allow Ukrainian grain to pass through its ports on the Adriatic and Danube.
With Reuters and AP
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