Ukraine’s Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov is expected to be replaced in a reshuffle, according to a senior Ukrainian lawmaker.
David Arakhamia, the leader of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s parliamentary faction, shared the news in a Telegram statement Sunday.
Reznikov has been under pressure for several weeks following corruption scandals at the defense ministry.
“War dictates personnel policies,” Arakhamia said. “Time and circumstances require strengthening and regrouping. This is happening now and will continue to happen in the future.”
Arakhamia’s said Major Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, a top intelligence official in the ministry, was lined up to become Ukraine’s next defense minister, saying the move was “absolutely logical for wartime.”
Some context: Reznikov’s ministry has been mired in a corruption scandal related to military spending in recent weeks.
Ukraine is making an anti-corruption push as it tries to gain accession to the European Union.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau has been investigating “high-profile media reports” on allegations that the defense ministry was buying military provisions, including food for the troops, at inflated prices.
Reznikov had just announced an internal audit of the country’s armed forces related to procurement (the purchasing of supplies) before word of his apparent ouster Sunday.
His deputy defense minister resigned late last month after the allegations surfaced in Ukrainian media.
The official, Viacheslav Shapovalov, submitted his resignation after a “campaign of accusations related to the procurement of food supply (to the Armed Forces of Ukraine),” according to a statement from the ministry, which described the allegations as “unfounded and baseless.”
