Ukraine's Defence Minister to be transferred to another ministry, intelligence chief to head Defence Ministry
The Servant of the People parliamentary bloc will vote to dismiss Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and Minister Of Strategic Industries Pavlo Riabikin.
Source: Mariana Bezuhla, member of the Servant of the People party and Deputy Head of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, on Facebook; Ukrainska Pravda sources; Davyd Arakhamia, chief of the Servant of the People parliamentary bloc, on Telegram; Reznikov in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda
Quote: "A closed meeting of the Servant of the People parliamentary bloc was held. In short, [the following issues were discussed]:
- security situation in Ukraine, actions of the Russian Federation
- restrictions on travelling abroad
- operation of the parliamentary bloc in 2023
- personnel rotations in the government.
We dismiss the Minister of Defence and the Minister for Strategic Industries. The acting heads of Ukraine’s Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are applying for the permanent positions."
Details: Ukrainska Pravda sources state that Reznikov is being considered for the position of Minister for Strategic Industries. Kyrylo Budanov is to be appointed Minister of Defence. Justice Minister Denys Maliuska is to stay in office.
Acting Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko will be appointed Minister, and the acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) Vasyl Maliuk will be appointed Chief of the SSU.
The dismissal of Sports Minister Vadym Huttsait was postponed until the end of February.
His dismissal is to take place at the next meeting, and the appointment is to be made in a meeting after that.
Later, Davyd Arakhamia, chief of Servant of the People parliamentary bloc, confirmed that Reznikov is being transferred to the post of Minister for Strategic Industries. According to Arakhamia, this is being done "to strengthen military-industrial cooperation, which is absolutely logical, given his expertise on Ramstein and the need to 'boost' the ministry, which should be doing more."
He also confirmed that Budanov will head the Defence Ministry, "which is absolutely logical during wartime." Arakhamia also confirmed that Klymenko will be appointed to be the Interior Minister and Maliuk will be appointed head of Ukraine’s Security Service.
"The logic is the same. At this stage, law enforcement agencies should be headed not by politicians, but by law enforcers," Arakhamia noted.
Oleksii Reznikov stated in the interview with Ukrainska Pravda that there were no discussions with him about leaving the position of defence minister.
Quote from Reznikov: "I believe that every official should know for sure that he is not holding his position for his entire life and he has to be ready to start this page and close it. That’s why I am ready for any development of the situation.
I am not ashamed of what I have done. I will surely have something to look back at and what I have delivered in this ‘Santa’s wish list’. Only the planes are yet to come, I have secured everything else for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, security and defence sectors. And, I am not ashamed of this. What will happen next - let’s see, I am optimistic."
Background: Earlier, Ukrainska Pravda sources reported that starting next week, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov might leave his post, and Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, is likely to head the Defence Ministry instead.
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