C T Online Desk: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday announced the departure of defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov, calling for “new approaches” a year and a half into Russia’s invasion.
The announcement came hours after Ukraine fought off an attack by Russian drones in the southern Odesa region Sunday that hit a Danube port on the border with NATO member Romania.
“Oleksiy Reznikov has been through more than 550 days of full-scale war,” Zelensky said in his daily evening address.
“I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large.”
He nominated Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar who has been head of the State Property Fund since last year, to replace Reznikov — subject to approval by Ukraine’s parliament.
News of Reznikov’s removal comes with Kyiv’s counteroffensive underway and Ukraine’s general push against corruption in response to EU requests.
– Russian drone attacks –
Russia, meanwhile, continued its military campaign against Ukraine’s infrastructure.
Moscow has launched attacks on targets in the Black Sea and the Danube river for weeks now, since pulling out of a key deal that allowed the safe passage of ships carrying grain.
This latest attack came on the eve of a summit in Russia between President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hopes to revive the grain deal.
