Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov said he will continue to fight for the “victory of Ukraine” amid reports he may resign in the coming days.
Asked by Kyiv Post if he was planning to stand down, Reznikov neither confirmed or denied his intentions, but said: “No official in the public service should consider himself to be in office for life. The main thing is to realize his vocation.”
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Reznikov added, “My main task at this time is the maximum of modern weapons for Ukraine in order to win. I have something to tell my grandchildren.”
The Defense Minister has played a key role in securing weapons from Ukraine’s Western partners, most recently the pledge of heavy tanks from countries including Germany and the U.S. Kyiv is now pushing for longer-range missiles and fighter jets.
In his statement to Kyiv Post, he added: “There are still planes on my wish list to Santa. I believe in the victory of Ukraine. And I will do everything for this. Regardless of status or position.”
Reports of Reznikov’s desire to step down circulated on Ukrainian media on Thursday morning.
According to LIGA.net, Reznikov expressed a desire to resign back in the summer, but he was not allowed to because of the upcoming Ramstein meeting.
Reznikov’s Defense Ministry has also recently been mired in accusations of corruption and last week his deputy resigned along with a number of other senior Ukrainian officials after the publication of an investigation by Ukrainian media outlet ZN (Mirror Weekly).
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Yuri Nikolov, the report's author, revealed an alleged scam involving officials at the Ministry of Defense using a dummy corporation to overprice food products for the army.
The story was based on a leak from a source within the AFU. According to the publication, the contract price was Hr.13 billion ($330 million), “The most common products turned out to be overpriced two to threefold,” the report claims.
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