Ukraine Defense Minister Reznikov resigned. What is known about new Rustem Umerov?

Defense Minister will be replaced in Ukraine. What is Rustem Umerov known for.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has tendered his resignation. Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he would be replaced by Rustem Umerov, who served as head of the State Property Fund.

Oleksiy Reznikov called a paradigm shift in the thinking of Kiev’s Western partners one of his main achievements as Ukrainian Defense Minister.

The current personnel rotation can hardly be called technical. It is taking place under the accompaniment of scandals with purchases for the warring army, which were carried out by the Ministry of Defense.

In all likelihood, Oleksiy Reznikov will head the Ukrainian embassy in the UK after his resignation as minister.

In his Sunday address, Volodymyr Zelensky named Reznikov’s replacement – is the head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, Rustam Umerov, whose candidacy will be considered by the Verkhovna Rada this week.

Umerov is an economist by education, worked in the telecommunications and investment business, and at the same time was a member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and assistant to its leader Mustafa Dzhemilev on human rights and international activities.

He was elected to parliament in 2019 from singer Svyatoslav Vakarchuk’s Golos party, and has authored and co-authored dozens of bills, from the law “On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine,” which irritated the Kremlin, to protecting the rights of medical professionals during the pandemic.

After the Russian invasion, Umerov was part of the Ukrainian delegation to the negotiations with Russia and, as Western media reported, may have been poisoned during those negotiations (he denied this).

Umerov was in charge of the prisoner exchange: he was the one who flew to Saudi Arabia during the complicated exchange last fall. He was there already in the rank of the head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine – he was appointed to this position in September 2022.

According to reviews – Umerov is smart and competent, has a wide network of contacts in Ukraine and abroad, which is indicative – he speaks not only English, but also Turkish and is a good communicator.

In addition, there are enough people in Kiev who see in Umerov’s likely appointment a strong and clear message from President Zelensky to Western experts and politicians, who in recent weeks have been increasingly describing scenarios for the end of the war, in which part of Ukraine’s territory would remain under Russian control. Do you think Ukraine should get out of the war without Crimea? Fine, try to talk about it with the minister – a Crimean Tatar, a human rights activist who has been dealing with the problems of Crimea for more than a year.

Formally, the replacement of the defense minister must be approved by the Verkhovna Rada, and it is estimated that it will happen already this week.

Ukraine Front Lines

Tags: russia ukraine war Ukraine Ukraine government