Reznikov dismissed from the post of Minister of Defense
5 September, 2023 Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine. December 2022. Ukraine.
Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine The Verkhovna Rada has approved the dismissal of Oleksii Reznikov from the post of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak announced this on Telegram.
327 MPs voted in favor of his resignation. Prior to his dismissal, the Minister of Defense personally arrived at the Parliament to report on his 552 days in office.
The results of the Verkhovna Rada's vote to dismiss Oleksii Reznikov as Ukraine's Minister of Defense, September 5. Photo credits: Yaroslav Zhelezniak
Reznikov told the MPs about defense assistance from foreign partners and reported on the provision of the military with everything it requires.
Oleksii Reznikov in the Verkhovna Rada, September 5.
Photo credits: Yaroslav Zhelezniak
For the Defense Forces of Ukraine, within 18 months, the Ministry of Defence had procured, produced by the order and received as an international technical assistance the following items:
- More than 7 million artillery shells, mines, and projectiles for tanks and MLRS.
- More than 4,5 thousand artillery systems and mortars.
- Up to 3.5 thousand systems protecting our sky - from MANPADS and to Patriot's.
- More than 6,5 thousand tanks, armored vehicles, and equipment.
- More than 2 thousand trucks.
- Countless amounts of small arms, radars, engineer equipment, different types of missiles, helicopters, recovery vehicles, and plenty of other equipment.
- More than 70 thousand Ukrainian warriors completed training abroad.
- Less than 2 years ago we got a refusal to give us Stingers, and nowadays, our pilots, engineers, and technicians are mastering modern Western aircraft.
- Up to 300 samples of new weapons and equipment were put into service, the lion's share of them being Western weapons.
- More than 30 models of Ukrainian drones have been put into operation. Production has increased more than 100 times and keeps increasing.
- Ukrainian 155-mm self-propelled guns, artillery shells, mines, and tank rounds are mass-produced. Most of this is being done for the first time.
- A powerful contractual base has been built with NATO and EU countries, namely in defense cooperation, information exchange, and defense industry.
As of today, Ukraine received physically or in the form of commitments an amount of military support estimated at up to £100 billion.
Oleksii Reznikov submitted his resignation as Defense Minister on Monday, September 4. In his resignation letter, he provided an overview of his 22 months in the post.
Oleksii Reznikov's resignation letter. September 4, 2023.
Photo credits: Social networks of the Minister of Defense
He noted that one of Ukraine's top priorities is to build a long-term partnership with key allies to ensure real security guarantees and the ability to defend itself.
Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo credits: Office of the President
The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed his intention to dismiss Reznikov from the post of Minister of Defense and named his successor. He proposed the candidacy of Rustem Umerov, Head of the Ukraine State Property Fund.
Rustem Umerov.
Photo credits: hromadske.ua
The Verkhovna Rada will vote on the appointment of a new Defense Minister on Wednesday, September 5.