Ukraine’s Zelenskyy strikes to interchange Reznikov in defence shake-up | Russia-Ukraine battle Information
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has mentioned he would ask parliament this week to dismiss Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and to interchange him with Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s important privatisation fund.
The announcement on Sunday, made in Zelenskyy’s nightly video tackle to the nation, units the stage for the most important shake-up of Ukraine’s defence institution in the course of the battle.
Reznikov, who was named defence minister in November 2021, has helped safe billions of {dollars} of Western navy help to help the battle effort, however has been dogged by graft allegations surrounding his ministry that he described as smears.
“I’ve determined to interchange the Minister of Protection of Ukraine. Oleksii Reznikov has been by way of greater than 550 days of full-scale battle,” Zelenskyy mentioned.
“I imagine the ministry wants new approaches and different codecs of interplay with each the navy and society as an entire.”
The change of defence minister have to be authorized by parliament, however is more likely to be supported by a majority of lawmakers within the Verkhovna Rada. Zelenskyy mentioned he anticipated parliament to approve Umerov’s appointment.
Umerov, a 41-year-old ex-lawmaker who’s a Crimean Tatar, has headed Ukraine’s State Property Fund since September 2022 and has performed a job in delicate wartime negotiations on, as an example, the Black Sea grain deal.
Zelenskyy’s announcement comes after Reznikov claimed the F-16 fighter jets provided by Ukraine’s allies could be deployed by subsequent spring and boasted concerning the nation’s plans to extend drone manufacturing in an interview with the Ukrainian state information company Ukrinform.
“I believe this autumn there can be a increase within the manufacturing of assorted Ukrainian drones: flying, floating, crawling, and many others, and this can proceed to develop in quantity,” Reznikov mentioned.
Maritime hall in focus
Earlier on Sunday, Zelenskyy spoke along with his counterpart French President Emmanuel Macron to debate the “functioning” of a sea hall arrange by Kyiv for protected navigation of ships after Moscow exited a landmark grain deal.
The cellphone name got here on the eve of a summit in Russia between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who desires to revive the grain deal, and as Moscow hit Ukraine’s Odesa area with drones.
“We additionally mentioned methods to make sure the functioning of the grain hall and improve the safety of the Odesa area,” Zelensky mentioned on social media after a cellphone name with Macron.
Ukraine this week mentioned 4 extra ships had gone by way of its short-term maritime hall within the Black Sea, arrange final month to make sure protected navigation.
I had a centered name with @EmmanuelMacron.
I thanked France for its help, together with essential navy help. We mentioned the following packages.
We agreed that France and French firms will participate in Ukraine’s upcoming Protection Industries Discussion board.
We additionally mentioned methods to…— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 3, 2023
South African inquiry quashes US weapons declare
In the meantime, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has quashed the allegations made by the US {that a} Russian ship had picked up weapons in South Africa late final yr.
Ramaphosa mentioned an inquiry into the allegation discovered no proof the vessel had transported weapons to Russia.
“Not one of the allegations made concerning the provide of weapons to Russia have been confirmed to be true,” Ramaphosa mentioned in an tackle to the nation on Sunday.
“No allow was issued for the export of arms and no arms had been exported,” he mentioned.
When all issues are thought of, not one of the allegations made concerning the provide of weapons to Russia have been confirmed to be true, and not one of the individuals who made these allegations may present any proof to help the claims that had been levelled towards our nation.
I…— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) September 3, 2023
In claims that sparked a diplomatic row, the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, instructed native journalists in a Might briefing that Russian cargo ship Girl R had uploaded weapons at a naval base close to Cape City in December.
The US accusations raised questions over South Africa’s professed stance of non-alignment and neutrality over Russia’s battle in Ukraine and considerations about attainable Western sanctions.
South African officers had been fast to reject the claims, with Ramaphosa’s authorities launching an unbiased inquiry led by a retired decide.
