MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. Western countries want to see a woman as Ukraine’s defense minister, instead of Alexey Reznikov, the Ukrainian-based Strana media outlet said on Sunday.

"According to rumors circulated in the political circles, Western partners allegedly want to see a woman as defense minister," it wrote on its Telegram channel.

Among possible candidates are Maria Berlinskaya, a volunteer, Irina Vereshchuk, a deputy prime minister, and Darya Kalenyuk, director of the Anticorruption Action Center.

A scandal erupted around Ukraine’s defense ministry in January 2023, when Ukrainian mass media reported about embezzlements at the defense ministry while purchasing food for the army. As a result of the scandal, Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapoval, deputy director of the ministry’s state procurement department Bogdan Khmelnitsky, and former deputy CEO of Promoboronexport Vladimir Tereshchenko had to vacate their offices and were charged with embezzlement and asset misappropriation. There were rumors that Reznikov would be sent to resignation, but it never happened. It was also said that Reznikov could be appointed Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom.

On August 10, the Ukainskaya Pravda media outlet said, citing sources in the country’s government that President Vladimir Zelensky was looking at firing Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov, with two contenders for the office. According to the sources, they are Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Kubrakov and Minister for Strategic Industries Alexander Kamyshin.