On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would replace Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, a move that comes amid Ukraine’s struggling counteroffensive.
“Reznikov has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large,” Zelensky said in his nightly address.
Zelensky said he wanted to replace Reznikov with Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund. Zelensky said he expected the Ukrainian parliament to approve the decision. Replacing Reznikov will mark the most significant shake-up in Ukrainian military leadership since Russia invaded last year.
Rumors of Reznikov’s ousting began surfacing back in February 2023, when a corruption scandal revealed the Defense Ministry was purchasing food and other goods at an inflated price. Reznikov was not personally implicated in the scheme, but it took place while he was leading the ministry.
Throughout the war, Reznikov had made several candid comments about Ukraine’s relationship with NATO. He described Ukraine as a “de facto” NATO member and once said Ukrainians were “shedding blood” for the alliance.
“We are carrying out NATO’s mission today. They aren’t shedding their blood. We’re shedding ours. That’s why they’re required to supply us with weapons,” Reznikov said in January 2023.
Reznikov also offered his country to Western arms makers to be used as a testing ground for new weapons. “We are interested in testing modern systems in the fight against the enemy, and we are inviting arms manufacturers to test the new products here,” he said in July 2022.
He told inconvenient truths.
Yes. Even more importantly, it’s time to begin sacrificing scapegoats as the failure of the counteroffensive becomes impossible to hide.
Don’t wake up our Polish neighbor! Always sprinkle in that “Russia is stupid and evil.” If he starts $hitting moral superiority on us, it’s all your fault, Dissident! (Sarcasm)
Who is the Polish neighbor?
Yes. Enquiring minds want to know.
i will bet that NA meant that Poland is the Polish neighbor of Ukraine
Maybe, but it sounded like he was referencing a commenter. I don’t know.
See below. You guys never let me have any fun. LOL. (Sarcasm)
We’re fun killers
You’re Pro-war against fun! (Just kidding around–not sarcasm)
I thought he meant an actual neighbor.
Darn! I should have just said that. DELETE, DELETE, DELETE! (Sarcasm)
Could’ve been worse.
Mysterious Balcony fall or poisoning. But that’s Russia.
Right. So, we should back neither.
Except, I haven’t heard Russia complain ad-nauseam that we’re not backing Russia enough. (Sarcasm)
We aren’t shipping billions of dollars to Russia so I don’t see how Russia’s crimes are relevant in this situation.
I don’t want to throw up so please spare me from listening to his speech. Did he say, Rez was a complicated man who made mistakes? (Sarcasm)
Quick!
Let’s shuffle the deck chairs on the Titanic.
That’ll be just the thing to keep this ship from sinking!
🙄😖🤦♂️
Good one! One of my favorites. Just to be clear. Are you talking about Ukraine, the Biden Administration, or both? (Sarcasm)
Yes
The Ukrainian wheels are starting to come off the war wagon ….
LOL
In the history of warfare, dismissals of highly-placed officials or soldiers has always signaled failure. Except when these officials were the dismissers themselves, like Napoleon. Occasionally the scapegoats were forced to commit suicide (Rommel) or were murdered.
Zelensky will replace Reznikov with someone more war like, someone like Lloyd Austin or Donald Rumsfeld. Biden will keep the war going as long as he remains the POTUS.
Biden is using the Ukrainians as cannon fodder and wants the world to think the USA is the highest and mightiest nation on Earth. He thinks the American Peoples are too good for that and wants the world to think the USA only spreads goodwill and sunshine throughout the world. He must think the Ukrainians will go to Heaven for being submissive to him.
super-cool guy Donald Rumsfeld was mostly responsible for the FDA’s approval of the cancer-causing artificial sweetener aspartame.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-rumsfeld-and-the-s_b_805581
way to go, cool guy. actual cool-guy James Dean is rolling over in his grave.
There was plenty of talk about replacing Reznikov in the spring, so obviously they waited in order to have a scapegoat in case Bidensky’s counter-offensive failed, as it did.
“Bidensky’s”
Good one.
I suspect someone needs to take the blame for the disaster they call their counter offensive
Don’t cry for Reznikov; pretty sure he has his share of the graft safely squirreled away in switzerland, and will be heading to his villa someplace warm and safe as soon as he completes his “transition duties”.
How will the Ukrainian “dead enders” explain this away?
Let him shuffle his five cards all he wants. He still has a pair of tens and there is nothing he can do against a full house.