<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">&nbsp;Ukraine's defence minister will be replaced by the chief of military intelligence ahead of an expected Russian offensive and following corruption scandals, a senior lawmaker said on Sunday.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Kyrylo Budanov will head the defence ministry, which is absolutely logical in wartime," said senior lawmaker David Arakhamia, referring to the 37-year-old head of military intelligence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Oleksiy Reznikov, 56, will be appointed minister for strategic industries, the lawmaker said without specifying a timeline for the planned reshuffle.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"War dictates personnel policies," added Arakhamia, who is the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's party.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Time and circumstances require reinforcement and regrouping. This is happening now and will continue to happen in the future," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The enemy is preparing to advance. We are preparing to defend ourselves."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reznikov said in an interview with a local news site that he had not been told about his new appointment to the Ministry of Strategic Industries.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I can comment that this is new information for me. I did not have any conversation about the Ministry of Strategic Industries with the president of Ukraine," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of the best-known faces of Ukraine's war effort, Reznikov was appointed defence minister in November 2021 and has helped secure Western weapons to buttress Ukrainian forces.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But his ministry has been beset by corruption scandals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reznikov's deputy was forced to resign in late January after the ministry was accused of signing food contracts at prices two to three times higher than current rates for basic foodstuffs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaking to reporters earlier Sunday, Reznikov said only President Volodymyr Zelensky, who last week stepped up efforts to clamp down on corruption, could decide his fate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The stress that I have endured this year is hard to measure precisely. I am not ashamed of anything," Reznikov said. "My conscience is absolutely clear." AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>