Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov dismissed as Rustem Umerov is Appointed

 President Zelensky while addressing the nation at night, has said it was time for “new approaches” in the defence ministry.

Rustem Umerov, who runs Ukraine’s State Property Fund, has been nominated by Mr Zelensky as Mr Reznikov’s successor.

“I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society as a whole,” the Ukrainian president said in his nightly address from the capital Kyiv.

Ukrainian media has speculated that Mr Reznikov will become Kyiv’s new ambassador in London, where he has developed good relations with senior politicians.

Mr Reznikov, 57, has become a well-known figure since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Internationally recognised, he has regularly attended meetings with Ukraine’s Western allies and played a key role in lobbying for additional military equipment.

But his dismissal has been anticipated for some time. Last week, Mr Reznikov told reporters he was exploring other positions with the Ukrainian president.

According to Ukrainian media, the former defence minister said that if Mr Zelensky offered the opportunity for him to work on another project he would probably agree.

This dismissal comes amid a wider anti-corruption drive in Mr. Zelensky’s administration, with weeding out graft in the state seen as essential to the country’s desire to join Western institutions like the EU.

While Mr. Reznikov is not personally accused of corruption, there have been a number of scandals involving Procurement at the Ministry of Defence over goods and equipment for the army.

Earlier this year Mr Reznikov’s deputy, Vyacheslav Shapovalov, resigned in the wake of the scandal. It was widely reported at the time that Mr Reznikov barely held on to his own post.

Progress on the frontline has been slow but top Ukrainian generals have recently said Kyiv’s troops hit key Russian defences.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s counteroffensive bore huge results in the last 24 hours against the invaders. Russian forces lost 22 artillery systems and 12 armored personnel vehicles (APVs) between Saturday, September 2, and Sunday, September 3 according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Russia has largely failed in its conflict which was supposed to last for 3 days. The US and European countries have supplied weapons to Kyiv to kick out the terrorists with the latest weapon being the cluster bomb shells which the Ukranian forces are effectively using against the enemy. Ukraine is currently awaiting the ultimate firepower -The F16 TO FINISH THE JOB.