As it stands, Resnikov should have secured another office.
(Photo: dpa)
Kyiv Oleksiy Resnikov is particularly active these days. But Russia’s planned new major attack on Ukraine is not the only reason for the defense minister’s many interviews, critics suspect. It is also about Reznikov’s own defense.
Two weeks after the first allegations of corruption against government officials, governors and high-ranking officials, the calls for Reznikov’s replacement are getting louder. Significantly overpriced purchases by the military department to supply the army move into the spotlight. While an egg cost 17 cents in Kiev supermarkets, the army paid 42 cents. The first layoffs in the ministry followed. Deputy ministers, like Resnikov’s deputy Vyacheslav Shapovalov, were dismissed because of allegations of bribery and embezzlement, and criminal proceedings were opened.
Resnikov has nevertheless remained the focus of criticism: he bears responsibility in the ministry, even if he was not personally guilty of anything, was the opinion on social networks. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was asked to fire his defense minister.
Reznikov defended the prices by saying that they also apply to deliveries directly to the front line, i.e. they include significant logistics costs for the suppliers.
Not everyone in Kyiv condemns the defense minister. “Reznikov is not personally involved in the scandal, and during the incriminated cases he was more abroad negotiating arms sales to Ukraine than here,” Halyna Yanchenko, an anti-corruption activist, told the Handelsblatt in Kyiv.
Dispute between Selenski and Klitschko
The defense minister is a “very good negotiator”, for example at the Ramstein meetings of the states supporting Ukraine. It is important that Selenski “consistently and quickly dismissed all those accused of corruption,” said the politician. And he was the “smartest politician in the Kyiv city administration,” Yanchenko adds.
>> Read here: Selenski dismisses numerous members of the government after allegations of corruption
The politician Janchenko is alluding to one thing: the defense minister is increasingly becoming a domestic political pawn between the political camps. Before joining the cabinet, Reznikov was deputy head of the Kyiv state administration. This body, appointed by the President, is the main opponent of Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
The US has put pressure on Zelensky to take action against corruption.
(Photo: dpa)
Kiev’s mayor and President Zelensky are politically at odds again and again. Selenski would like more control over the capital, and Klitschko has repeatedly indicated ambitions for the presidency.
The new minister is to become the previous head of the secret service
After all, Resnikov seems to have managed to only be transferred: The 56-year-old is to become Minister for Strategic Industries shortly and thus primarily responsible for the armaments industry, said the parliamentary group leader of Zelensky’s party “Servant of the People”, Dawyd Arachamija, on Monday.
However, the change should only take place next week in order to get enough votes in Parliament for the change of office. According to the Kiev online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, Kyrylo Budanov will be the new defense minister.
The 37-year-old general currently heads the Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR. He must give up this function beforehand, since only civilians are allowed to be cabinet members.
>> Read here: Fighting corruption in Ukraine: “Zelensky finds it difficult to see who is competent”
Budanov became known in Ukraine for a successful resistance operation in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed. In 2016, he and two other plainclothes Ukrainian officers carried out an attack on the Russian army base in Armyansk. Budanov narrowly escaped an attack in Kyiv in 2019. Zelensky appointed him the new chief of military intelligence in August 2020.
It remains to be seen whether the planned government rotation will liberate Zelensky from allegations of corruption. Some of those in charge of the Office of Inspector General, a kind of American audit office, recently came to Kyiv from the USA to investigate these allegations.
Pressure from the United States quickly allowed Zelensky to take action: “He’s tired of the scandals and is now letting heads roll,” said Anatoly Oktisyuk from the Ukrainian Political Institute.
More: Selenski cleans up after allegations of corruption