MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. Any reshuffles in Ukraine's government are now unlikely to change the essence of the Kiev regime, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He made the statement when commenting on the resignation of Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov and his replacement with Rustem Umerov.

"We do not think that any appointments now can in any way affect the essence of the Kiev regime as a whole. This essence appears to remain unchanged for the time being, and one can only feel regret in connection with this," Peskov said.

Peskov declined further comment on the replacement of Ukraine's defense minister.

"This is an internal matter of Ukraine," he said.

On September 3, amid another corruption scandal in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky announced the decision to replace Reznikov with Umerov, who previously headed Ukraine's State Property Fund. Rumors about the resignation of Reznikov, who had been defense minister since November 2021, appeared in the Ukrainian news media in January following a major corruption scandal in the ministry involving overpriced food purchases. The minister denied all accusations at the time, but several resignations among senior ministry staff did take place afterward. Reznikov himself kept his post. In August, the Defense Ministry again found itself at the center of a procurement scandal, this time involving winter jackets that did not meet the required standards.