And how likely is the appointment of the head of military intelligence Kirill Budanov to this position, the resignation of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov, which was announced on Sunday by the head of the faction of the Servant of the People party in the Rada David Arakhamiya, has been postponed for the time being. Why — RBC understood
Alexey Reznikov
Who announced Reznikov’s resignation
The fact that the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov will leave his post, on the evening of February 5, was announced by the head of the faction of the presidential party “Servant of the People” in the Verkhovna Rada David Arahamiya. This politician can be called the herald of personnel changes in the Ukrainian leadership, which began on the 20th of January, — it was he who announced the second wave of resignations and searches of the Ukrainian elite, which then really took place.
“Alexey Reznikov is being transferred to the post of Minister for Strategic Industries within the government to strengthen military-industrial cooperation, which is absolutely logical, given his expertise on Ramstein (the format created by 50 countries to provide collective support to Ukraine in the conflict with Russia; was launched in April 2022 years at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.—RBC) and the need to raise the ministry, which should do more,” Arakhamiya wrote in his telegram channel, stating that the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), Major General Kirill Budanov, would come to replace Reznikov. The deputy explained this step by saying that “at this stage, the security agencies should be headed not by politicians, but by personnel security officers.”
Kirill Budanov was born on January 4, 1986 in Kiev, in 2007 he graduated from the Odessa Institute of Land Forces and joined the special forces of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Since 2014, he took part in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. In 2020, at the age of 34, he headed the GUR, in April 2022 he received the rank of Major General. He was one of those in Ukraine who expected a large-scale Russian military operation in February, according to The Washington Post. In an interview with the newspaper published on January 31, Budanov recalled how on February 23 he moved his wife to his office to secure her in case of the outbreak of hostilities.
Arakhamiya was not the first to announce Reznikov’s possible resignation,— Rada deputy from the Voice party (founded by the soloist of the Okean Elzy group, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk) Yaroslav Zheleznyak early in the morning of February 5 in his telegram channel cited the same scheme of personnel changes in the Ukrainian cabinet.
Read on RBC Pro The Cult of Sycophancy: how Esther Crawford survived on Twitter under Elon Musk’s “Data Laundering”: why neural networks were flooded with billions of claims How a firm with five employees deprived the richest man in Asia of $40 billion What will happen to the Russian economy in the next 10 years: two main scenarios
On the same day, Alexey Reznikov held a press conference for Ukrainian and foreign journalists, at which he answered a question about his proposed resignation: such a decision, he said, can only be made by one person – the President of Ukraine and its Supreme Commander Vladimir Zelensky. “And then I will do what we agree. My experience will allow me not only to provide for the army, but also to punish the higherthe military-political leadership of the Russian Federation”,” the minister added, noting that he did not put up with the dismissal (quote from the magazine “Focus”). A little later, commenting on suggestions that he might be appointed to the Ministry of Industry, Reznikov said that he was hearing about this for the first time— he had not had a single conversation with the president on this matter; but if such an offer had been received, the minister told the ICTV Facts TV channel, he would refused.
56-year-old Reznikov, a lawyer by education, has been heading the Ukrainian military department since November 2021. Prior to that, for a year and a half, he held the post of Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories, to which Ukraine included Crimea, the DPR and the LPR before their accession to Russia, and even earlier he represented Ukraine in the working subgroup on political issues at the negotiations of the Trilateral Contact Group.
His resignation was connected with a corruption scandal
Conversations about Reznikov’s possible resignation began amid a scandal over the purchase of products for the Ukrainian military at inflated prices. On January 21, the Mirror of the Week published copies of agreements on catering for military units in six regions of Ukraine. According to the conclusion of journalists, the Ministry of Defense agreed on the purchase of products at prices two to three times higher than in retail in Kiev, for example, while in the store chicken eggs cost an average of UAH 7 per piece (13 rubles), in the contract they were priced at UAH 17 (31.7 rubles).
In response, the military department stated that the media were spreading information “with signs of deliberate manipulation and misleading”, and reported that the department was preparing materials for the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to investigate cases of the dissemination of deliberately false information that harm the interests of defense in a special period». Reznikov himself admitted mistakes in the published contract, but also called the investigation an “information attack under a far-fetched pretext.”
Anyway, the scandal cost his deputy Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was responsible for logistics, his position: on January 24, he resigned, “so as not to pose a threat to the stable provision of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). The department called Shapovalov’s petition a “worthy act in the traditions of European and democratic politics, a demonstration that the interests of defense are higher than any offices or chairs.”
At a press conference on February 5, Reznikov said that an internal audit of all purchases was continuing at the Ministry of Defense, and promised that it would be completed within the current week. At the same time, according to the minister, he is not aware of any handing over of suspicion (that is, the presentation of criminal charges) to employees who signed contracts with suppliers.
Why Reznikov remains a minister
On the morning of February 6, it became known that Reznikov would remain at the head of the Defense Ministry for some time. “Personnel changes in the field of defense will not happen this week,” David Arahamia also said. Deputy Zheleznyak wrote: “Well, that’s it. We have finally read all the law on the appointment of a civilian to the post of Minister of Defense.The point is that the Ukrainian law on national security contains a provision that the president appoints the head of the department exclusively from among civilians. According to the Constitution of the country, the candidacy of the Minister of Defense is submitted by the president, a majority of votes in parliament is necessary for his appointment or dismissal.
Ukrainian edition LIGA.net Referring to the unnamed leaders of the faction of the party “Servant of the People”, claims that the serviceman in the minister’s chair is Zelensky’s desire. In this situation, it is necessary to “either remove the shoulder straps [from Budanov], or change the law, and how to change the law is unclear, because civilian control is a NATO requirement,” says one of the interlocutors of the publication.
Another reason, according to the Ukrainian media, is the next meeting of the Ramstein format, which is scheduled to take place on February 14. Ukrainian media believe that after this meeting, Western allies may decide to transfer F-16 fighter jets and long-range missile systems to Kiev. The Ukrainian leadership believes that “it would have been nice if Reznikov had finished it”.
“I haven’t seen Minister Reznikov’s resignation statement yet. In addition, as far as I understand, in conditions of war, when the Rada dismisses a figure of this level, the head of the Ministry of Defense should make a report to the deputies. And what kind of report, if he just read about his resignation in the news,— said to the publication«Country» deputy of the Rada Dmitry Razumkov, in the past its speaker. As Mariana Bezuglaya, a deputy from Servants of the People, wrote on her Facebook (owned by Meta, an extremist organization banned in Russia), deputies are assessing the risks to the system before Ramstein and taking into account the possible offensive.
The interlocutors of the “Country” in the presidential party and the office of the president note that talks about the resignation of the minister have intensified against the background of the largest internal political conflict in the country since the beginning of hostilities between David Arahamia and the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Ermak. Reznikov is Yermak’s closest confidant. Budanov is not Yermak’s man at all. This is an alternative channel of direct communication with the president to Ermak. Therefore, Reznikov’s resignation is a very painful blow toErmak », — quotes the publication of the words of a source in the Rada. According to him, Ermak “does not want to hand over his man”, but it is unclear whether he was able to “defend Reznikov”. “The decision of the faction on his dismissal has already been announced. And it is clear that Arahamiya has already approved it from Zelensky. But there will be attempts to disrupt the vote. And this is the first such large-scale conflict within the government since the beginning of the war, which can seriously affect the manageability of the parliament from the side of the Bank (office of the president.—RBC)», — summed up the interlocutor of the publication.
Authors Person Tags
Vladimir Zelensky
politician, President of Ukraine
January 25, 1978
Subscribe to Telegram RBC Keep up to date with the latest news even in lockdown conditions