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Ukrainian parliament’s defense committee approves Umerov as defense minister

Verkhovna Rada voting on the new minister will take place on Wednesday

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. The defense committee of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, or parliament, has approved Rustem Umerov as the country’s defense minister instead of Alexey Reznikov who was fired by President Vladimir Zelensky.

"The Verkhovna Rada committee on issues of defense approved Rusten Umerov as Ukrainian defense minister," lawmaker Yarislav Zheleznyak wrote on his Telegram channel.

According to Zheleznyak, Umerov, who was nominated by President Zelensky, was supported by all the 17 committee members. Verkhovna Rada voting on the new minister will take place on Wednesday.

Amid another corruption-related scandal in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Zelensky said on September 3 that he had decided to replace Reznikov with Umerov. On the following day, Reznikov submitted his resignation request to parliament.

Umerov has been heading Ukraine’s State Property Committee since September 2022. Prior to that, he was a businessman and entrepreneur. In 2019, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada on the Golos (Voice) party ticket. He graduated from the Ukrainian National Academy of Management with degrees in finance and economics, and was trained under the "Future Leaders Exchange Program" (FLEX, USA).

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