“I believe the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole,” Zelensky said.
Reznikov’s removal comes after months of speculation that he would be ousted. Although Reznikov has not been charged personally in ongoing corruption investigations and Zelensky did not cite malfeasance in his announcement, several high-profile allegations of graft have plagued the Defense Ministry.
Early this year, the ministry faced blowback for allegedly purchasing food for soldiers at inflated prices, and David Arakhamia, the head of Zelensky’s faction in parliament, publicly announced — incorrectly at the time — that Reznikov would be removed. Then, last month, Ukrainian media suggested the ministry had engaged in a corruption scheme while purchasing jackets for the military — allegations Reznikov vehemently denied.
But with Ukraine dependent on enormous amounts of foreign aid, Kyiv is eager to show its Western partners that it now has zero tolerance for corruption. On Saturday, Ukraine’s State Security Service accused billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky of fraud and money laundering. Kolomoisky previously owned Ukraine’s largest savings and loan bank, PrivatBank, which was nationalized in 2016 to prevent its insolvency after $5.5 billion in assets went missing. Kolomoisky also served as governor of the country’s Dnipropetrovsk region and strongly backed Zelensky in his 2019 bid for the presidency.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Reznikov insisted that he had worked to root out corruption and that the ministry was functioning with greater oversight and more competitive procurement procedures.
“My resignation is not related to any corruption scandals: the decision was made by the president for other reasons,” Reznikov said, adding that he had completed the tasks assigned to him. “The key directions of reforms have been set, and the process of receiving new weapons in Ukraine has become stable. Our course for NATO membership is approved.”
In the statement, Reznikov cited advances in the fight against graft.
“Despite the war and critical challenges for Ukraine, we have managed to do a lot to fight corruption in the ministry,” he wrote. “We have reformed procurement procedures by launching two procurement agencies — a defense agency and a resources agency. This will help us to avoid unnecessary links in the supply chain and minimize possible corruption risks.”
“We have also diversified food supplies in the Ministry of Defense,” he continued. “When I was appointed minister, there was only one supplier. Thanks to our efforts, now we have five. We have created an independent public body — the Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense, which includes well-known volunteers and journalists. We persistently implemented the standards of friendly NATO countries and used the experience of the USA, Great Britain, and NATO.”
As a result of the ministry’s new vigilance, Reznikov said, “several high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense were removed from their posts and became subjects to investigation.”
In addition to fighting corruption, Kyiv is also under pressure to produce results in its counteroffensive, which Reznikov acknowledged in an interview with The Post in the spring might not live up to Western expectations and could cause “emotional disappointment.”
Months into the counterattack, Ukrainian troops are facing an immense challenge in the country’s south, where Russian forces prepared complex defensive positions and mined huge swaths of territory. There has been some progress in recent weeks, with Ukrainian forces claiming to take control of the strategic village of Robotyne. But the operation has been slow, and Russian forces are simultaneously trying to retake occupied territory they lost last year in the northeast.
In his resignation letter Monday, Reznikov claimed success in rearming the Ukrainian military. When he started in the job, he wrote, partners refused to even provide Ukraine with portable air defense systems known as stingers. In the time since, he said, an aviation coalition was formed, and Ukraine obtained “modern tanks, antimissile defense/anti-missile equipment, antiaircraft missiles, armored vehicles, artillery, MLRS, other types of modern Western-style weapons.”
“The key tasks that were defined when I was appointed to the position were completed,” he wrote, citing reforms in procurement and digital transformation within the ministry.
Arakhamia, the head of Zelensky’s parliamentary group, told The Post on Monday that the incoming minister, Umerov, “has a lot of trust from international institutions” and that it’s time for a new phase in the ministry.
Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a Ukrainian NGO, said in a Facebook post that Umerov, has a “solid strategic vision” and is a “talented negotiator.”
Umerov and his family are Crimean Tatars, a predominantly Muslim minority group from the peninsula Russia invaded and illegally annexed in 2014. While serving in parliament, he co-chaired an initiative focused on retaking Crimea from Russian control. He was also involved in key negotiations related to releasing Ukrainian prisoners of war, said a government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the subject.
“The very fact a Crimean Tatar was appointed as the minister of defense is a powerful message to the world as Ukraine plans to end the war,” Kaleniuk wrote.
In a message, she added that Reznikov had been “delaying any decision-making” regarding reforms in the ministry and “unfortunately didn’t resign” after the food-procurement scandal. His dismissal was a “matter of time” after the latest corruption allegations, she said.
“The resignation of Reznikov is a good sign,” she said. “It’s a sign that public pressure in Ukraine works despite the large-scale invasion.”
Tamila Tasheva, the president’s representative to Crimea, who is currently in Kyiv, said Umerov has worked on releasing prisoners of war and has been a key figure in Ukraine’s relations with the Gulf and Turkey.
The decision to appoint a Crimean Tatar to the role “is an important signal for Ukrainian society and all our citizens in Crimea that Ukraine will fight for Crimea until it is freed from Russian occupation,” she said. “A Crimean, a representative of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people as the minister of defense of Ukraine is in itself a testimony of the priorities of state policy regarding Crimea.”
There is some speculation that Reznikov — who speaks English and has forged strong relationships with Ukraine’s partners — may become Ukraine’s ambassador to London.
The position was vacated in July when Zelensky dismissed Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko. His firing came soon after he described a remark by Zelensky about expressing gratitude for British military assistance as “unhealthy” sarcasm.
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry declined to comment Monday on any potential appointments.
In his statement to The Post, Reznikov thanked Ukraine’s international supporters.
“I am proud that I was able to serve Ukraine in the darkest hours for our state,” he wrote, “and I feel gratitude for the people and governments of our allied countries for the enormous and invaluable assistance they provide to Ukraine.”
Morgunov reported from Warsaw.
