How is the war in Ukraine after Kyiv 'changed generals'?

New approach needed

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced yesterday (September 4) that he had submitted his resignation to the Speaker of the Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk. The decision was made after President Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly announced the night before that he had nominated MP Rustem Umerov to replace Mr. Reznikov. President Zelensky did not specify the reason but said that the Ukrainian Defense Ministry needed a "new approach" to the army and society, according to The Kyiv Independent.

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The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has been embroiled in a series of scandals over the past few months related to corruption. But according to Western media, Mr. Reznikov himself is not involved in these incidents. According to The New York Times , the accusations against the Ukrainian Defense Ministry do not relate to Western funding but to contracts for military supplies and equipment purchased by Ukraine with state budget money.

Mr. Rustem Umerov (right) was nominated to replace Mr. Oleksii Reznikov (left) as Minister of Defense of Ukraine.

A veteran of several government positions, Reznikov was appointed Ukraine’s defense minister in November 2021. Since the conflict began, the 57-year-old has become a prominent representative of Ukraine on the international stage, earning praise for helping Ukraine receive many modern weapons aided by the West.

What impact on war?

Reznikov’s replacement is unlikely to have a significant impact on the battlefield, given the limited role of the defense minister in Ukraine, especially in wartime. According to The Wall Street Journal, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Valery Zaluzhny, is overseeing the operation, while overall strategy is decided at regular meetings of Stavka, the headquarters headed by President Zelensky and made up of other military and civilian leaders.

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The role of the Defense Ministry's leadership over the past 18 months has been largely related to procurement, and that is one of the reasons Mr. Reznikov has spent much of his time attending meetings and conferences abroad.

Replacing Mr. Reznikov is a younger figure who has also played a major role since the start of the war. According to AFP, Mr. Umerov (41 years old), a Crimean Tatar, was in the telecommunications business before being elected to parliament in 2019. Mr. Umerov was in the opposition before the war, but later became a special envoy of the president and was appointed to the position of head of the State Property Fund in September 2022. Mr. Umerov joined the Ukrainian delegation to conduct many negotiations with Russia, including a deal to export grain across the Black Sea.

Since 2020, Mr. Umerov has been a member of the task force that has been working on a strategy to retake Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. If approved by parliament this week, he will become the highest-ranking Crimean Tatar official in Ukraine’s government, a sign of Ukraine’s commitment to reclaiming Crimea.

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Russian, Turkish leaders meet in Sochi

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to discuss with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the viability of the grain deal under new UN terms, a source in Ankara told TASS. According to the source, at a meeting in Sochi (Russia) on September 4, the two leaders are expected to carefully consider new proposals drafted by the UN with Türkiye's participation.

On September 3, Sabah reported that the new package of UN proposals included the possibility of negotiating the lifting of restrictions on Russian food producers whose assets are frozen in Europe. In addition, the UN proposed measures to assess the damage to the ammonia pipeline from Russia to Ukraine. Reconnecting the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the international payment system SWIFT was also among the latest proposals.

Khanh Nhu

Russia attacks Odessa

Governor Oleh Kiper of the southern Ukrainian Odessa region said on Thursday that Russia had carried out a large-scale drone attack on infrastructure at the port of Izmail earlier in the day, Reuters reported. The official said about 17 drones were destroyed but some crashed, damaging warehouses, production facilities, machinery and agricultural equipment.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said several UAVs fell on Romanian territory and exploded, but the Romanian Defense Ministry immediately denied the claim. Romania is a NATO member and an attack on the country would trigger the alliance's collective defense mechanism.

The port of Izmail, on the Danube, has been a key export point for Ukrainian grain since the collapse of the Black Sea deal. Russia has not commented on the incident, but said on September 3 that it had carried out a drone attack on the port of Reni, also on the Danube, destroying a Ukrainian military fuel depot.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/chien-su-ukraine-ra-sao-sau-khi-kyiv-thay-tuong-18523090415090135.htm