Serious changes in the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine against the background of suspicions of corruption in this institution raised questions even in the West. HotNews.ro wanted to know how these events are interpreted among experts and the military in Ukraine.

At the beginning of the week, the public learned that six deputy defense ministers in Kyiv were dismissed two weeks after the departure of Oleksiy Reznikov.

The Ukrainian authorities have not officially explained this series of changes in such an important ministry for the country, which is in a state of war. The New York Times wrote that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to demonstrate that his country is paying more attention to what is happening in the institution that manages aid provided to the armed forces by Western partners.

In a conversation with HotNews.ro, military expert, reserve major of the Armed Forces Oleksiy Hetman claims that this decision is not a surprise.

“When a new minister is appointed, in any ministry, but especially in the defense ministry, he should have taken measures for more effective management. The appointment of ministers is a political decision. The Minister of Defense must provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with everything necessary. For this, they must have a team,” explained Oleksiy Hetman, who also noted that these changes were discussed with “the most influential NATO members, such as Germany, Great Britain, and the United States of America.”

The expert also says that possible violations or abuses during the previous leadership of the Ministry of Defense should be investigated by structures that specialize in the fight against corruption.

“I believe that Reznikov’s resignation is connected with the fact that the ministry itself demonstrated the inefficiency of its activity in supplying everything necessary for the military.

If there were serious violations, now the NABU, the SBI and other structures will deal with it. Yes, there were scandals, everyone has already heard about certain inflated prices, including for food products purchased for the army,” says Geltman.

The situation around the Ministry of Defense will not affect the course of the war, the expert says.

“From the time of the Soviet Union, many of us have the impression that the Minister of Defense is the highest position in the armed forces. This was the case in the Soviet Union. In all civilized countries, this position is held by a civilian,” Hetman added.

“There were several cases when wounded fighters turned to the state for support, but they did not receive such support”

Consulting and media company Defense express highlights issues of defense-industrial policy, military-technical cooperation, security and defense policy of Ukraine.

Ivan Krychevsky, a Ukrainian military analyst from the Defense Express organization, told Hotnews.ro:

“Changes at the head of the ministry do not affect tactics on the battlefield, because the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine does not make decisions regarding the planning of military operations.

Another important detail: six civilian deputies were fired, but the First Deputy Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Pavlyuk (not Oleksandr Pavlyuk) was not fired. He was in charge of the armed forces in the east of Ukraine, in charge of the defense of Kyiv in 2022. He is an authoritative person. And in his case, it was decided not to change.

There were several reasons for Reznikov’s resignation, including corruption scandals, in particular regarding purchases for the military, including clothes and other goods at higher prices. There were also several cases when wounded fighters turned to the state for support, but did not receive such support. We can draw a conclusion about the reasons for these personnel changes,” says Krychevskyi.

However, the expert believes that among the reasons for the resignations was also a negative perception of the ministry’s activities over the last period.

“Rather, it was the reaction of the West. Some things that exist in peacetime also remain in wartime: if an official accumulates “negatives”, it means that he should be dismissed from his post. And it’s just so as not to cause dissatisfaction.

As for weapons, Reznikov provided the weapons that could be secured. The rate of rearmament of the Ukrainian army, both quantitatively and qualitatively, was higher than at any time in the last 30 years. And here it was not only about the decisions of the allies in the West, but also about efforts from our side. And Reznikov coped with this task,” says Krychevskyi.

In early September, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he had decided to replace the Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov and would ask the Verkhovna Rada to appoint Rustem Umerov as the head of the Ukrainian Privatization Fund. Reznikov, who was appointed Minister of Defense in November 2021.

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