Ukraine’s Parliament to Vote for Resignation of Defense Minister, Media Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will vote in favor of the resignation of Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov at the next meeting, Ukrainian media report.

On Sunday, Ukrainian parliamentarian Yaroslav Zhelezniak said that Reznikov could be replaced by Ukrainian Chief of the Defense Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov.

The Ukraine news agency reported later on Sunday citing an informed source that the Verkhovna Rada was going to vote for Reznikov’s resignation at the next plenary meeting in the near future and that Reznikov would be replaced by Budanov.

The source also said that Reznikov would replace Pavlo Riabikin in the post of Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine.

Reznikov told the Ukrainian newspaper on Sunday that he had not had talks about his potential resignation, but was ready for any scenario amid rumors of him stepping down.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has recently launched a major reshuffle in his government. On January 24, at least nine top civil servants, namely four deputy ministers and five regional governors were sacked for corruption, while several other high-ranking officials, including Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Symonenko and Deputy Head of Zelensky's office Kyrylo Tymoshenko, announced their resignation.