Ukraine's defence ministry in turmoil at key point in war
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[February 06, 2023]
By Tom Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine sent mixed messages over the fate of its
defence minister on Monday, leaving a key post in its war effort in
doubt even as it braces for a new Russian offensive.
A day after announcing that Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov would be
replaced, a top ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared to row
back for now, saying no personnel changes in the defence sector would be
made this week.
David Arakhamia, chief of the parliamentary bloc of Zelenskiy's party,
had said Reznikov would be made minister of strategic industries, while
the head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, would take over the
defence ministry.
But Zelenskiy remained silent on the issue, while Reznikov himself said
on Sunday he had not been informed of any move, and would reject the
strategic industry job if offered it.
The doubt over the minister's fate comes as Russian forces have been
advancing for the first time in half a year in relentless battles in the
east. A regional governor said Moscow was pouring reinforcements into
eastern Ukraine for a new offensive that could come as soon as next
week.
Two senior lawmakers on Monday noted that rules require Ukraine's
defence minister to be a civilian, which would appear to put an obstacle
in the way of the immediate appointment of Budanov, a 37-year-old
military officer.
Removing Reznikov, who has been warmly received in Western capitals
including Paris just last week, would be the highest profile reshuffle
in a slew of resignations and sackings in recent weeks, some of which
followed corruption scandals.
Ukraine has a decades-long reputation for graft, and Zelenskiy is under
pressure to demonstrate the country can be a reliable steward of
billions of dollars in Western military and civilian aid. In announcing
a personnel purge last month, Zelenskiy pledged to meet Western
standards of clean governance.
Reznikov, a lawyer by profession, has not been publicly implicated in
any scandals. But one of his deputies and several other officials have
left, and prosecutors have announced a probe into allegations that a
defence ministry contract would have corruptly overpaid for food for
troops.
'WAR DICTATES CHANGES'
Arakhamia said Ukraine's armed forces should not be overseen by
politicians during wartime, but by people with a background in defence
or security.
"War dictates changes in personnel policy," he wrote on the Telegram
messaging app on Sunday.
Reznikov said on Sunday that any decision on a reshuffle was up to
Zelenskiy, but told the Ukrainian Fakty ICTV online media that a planned
transfer to a 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.
Budanov, identified by Arakhamia as Reznikov's replacement, is an
enigmatic young officer decorated for his role in secret operations, who
rapidly rose through the ranks to head up the military's Main
Directorate of Intelligence.
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Rescuers and a local resident carry a
woman who was wounded inside a residential building during a Russian
missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kharkiv,
Ukraine February 5, 2023. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
The possible shakeup coincides with Ukrainian fears that Russia is
planning a major new offensive this month. Ukraine is planning its
own counter-offensive but is waiting on Western supplies of battle
tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
"We are seeing more and more (Russian) reserves being deployed in
our direction, we are seeing more equipment being brought in,"
Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, said, adding
that shelling was no longer round-the-clock.
"They are slowly starting to save, getting ready for a full-scale
offensive," he said on television. "It will most likely take them 10
days to gather reserves. After Feb 15 we can expect (this offensive)
at any time."
MILITARY AID OVERSEER
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, when asked on
national television on Sunday night how likely a reshuffle was,
said: "Reznikov was extremely efficient in terms of communication
with our partners. And this is a very important component in this
case."
As a wartime defence minister, Reznikov, 56, fostered ties with
Western defence officials and helped oversee the receipt of billions
of dollars of military aid to help Kyiv fend off the Russian
invasion.
Podolyak said that Reznikov's "wonderful" personal relations with
allies have helped with the military supplies.
"Negotiations are not just mathematical formulae but also personal
relationships. And trust. Unfortunately, today we are losing a
measure of trust in us," Podolyak said.
Reznikov singled out Ukraine's "de facto" integration into the NATO
military alliance as a top priority, even if joining the bloc was
not immediately possible.
During his tenure as defence minister, he spoke out strongly about
wartime corruption, which he said was akin to "marauding".
But in recent weeks his ministry became embroiled in a corruption
scandal over an army food contract that envisaged paying vastly
inflated prices. It caused a public outcry.
The emergence of that scandal was followed by a major reshuffle that
saw the exit of an array of regional governors, deputy ministers and
other officials.
Reznikov hosted a news conference on Sunday afternoon, in which he
said Ukraine expected a possible major Russian offensive this month,
but that Kyiv had the resources at hand to hold them at bay.
He also said that his ministry's anti-corruption department needed
to be overhauled and that it had not done what it was supposed to
do.
(Additional reporting by Ron Popeski, Nick Starkov and Lidia Kelly;
Writing by Tom Balmforth, Lidia Kelly and Philippa Fletcher; Editing
by Peter Graff)
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