<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday announced he was replacing Kyiv's defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov, calling for "new approaches" in the ministry, a year and a half into Russia's invasion.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reznikov, appointed three months before Moscow's invasion, has led Kyiv's negotiations to equip its forces with modern weaponry from allies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">His removal -- announced in a video late in the evening -- comes in the midst of Kyiv's counteroffensive and during Ukraine's general push against corruption in response EU requests.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It also paves the way for a major change in Ukraine's defence circles.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Oleksiy Reznikov has been through more than 550 days of full-scale war," Zelensky said in his daily evening address.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He nominated Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar who has been head of the State Property Fund since last year, to replace Reznikov.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Now Rustem Umerov should be the head of the (defence) ministry," Zelensky said in his evening address. "I expect parliament to support this candidate."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reznikov, a 57-year-old lawyer with little military experience, has become one of the best-known faces of Kyiv's war effort.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During the Russian invasion, Ukraine's defence ministry has been rocked by some corruption scandals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In January, Reznikov kept his job but his deputy was forced to resign after the defence ministry was accused of signing food contracts at prices two to three times higher than current rates for basic foodstuffs. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>