President Zelensky nominates Rustem Umerov as Ukraine’s new defence minister

Ukrainian president Zelensky on Sunday, 3 September, announced the nomination of the current head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund (SPFU), Rustem Umerov, to replace the defence minister Oleksii Reznikov.

Mr Reznikov, who was named defence minister in November 2021, has helped secure billions of dollars of Western military aid to help the war effort but has been dogged by graft allegations surrounding his ministry that he described as smears.

“I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large,” said Mr Zelensky in his nightly video address.

He added: “I expect the Parliament to support this candidate. Autumn is a time for strengthening.”