Speculation about the Ukrainian Defense Minister – the nightly update without photos Moscow reports success in the Kharkov region – the nightly update without photos

Minister Resnikov is transferred

Ukraine’s recently controversial Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov is likely to move to another department this week. This was announced on Sunday evening from the ranks of the Ukrainian presidential party Servants of the People. As their faction leader David Arachamija announced, Resnikov will be transferred to the post of Minister of Strategic Industry. Former military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov becomes the new defense minister. There was initially no official confirmation of the change.

In the late afternoon, Resnikov had declared that he would not leave his seat until asked by President Volodymyr Zelensky. “According to the constitution, the decision whether or not to become defense minister is made by one person: the Supreme Commander and President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” he said. So far he has not commented.

Resnikov had been criticized after a series of scandals involving corruption and money laundering in his ministry. His deputy Vyacheslav Shapovalov, among others, recently resigned in connection with the scandal surrounding the purchase of too expensive food for soldiers. In addition, according to media reports, money has been embezzled in another part of the authority during the construction of barracks. Resnikov had always denied the allegations against him.

Ukraine has been fighting off a Russian invasion for almost a year. The financing of military expenditure is largely dependent on Western funds. The Eastern European country is considered one of the most corrupt countries in Europe.

Selenskyj warns of “symbolic action” by the Russian military

As the February 24 anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, the president has warned of a “symbolic action” by the occupying forces. There are already countless reports and references to that, Selenskyj said in his video address every evening on Sunday. Russia wants to take revenge for the defeats of the past year. “We notice that the pressure has increased on various front areas and also on the information field.”

The situation in the Donetsk region is particularly difficult at the moment. “But no matter how hard it is and how great the pressure, we have to survive,” Zelenskyj said. Ukraine must use every day and week to strengthen its frontline defenses and its international position.

Ukraine is currently under heavy pressure, especially around the city of Bakhmut in the east of the country. There, Russian troops and members of the notorious mercenary group Wagner have been trying for weeks to break through the Ukrainian defense lines. The Defense Ministry in Moscow reported that Russia had taken up more advantageous positions in the region.

British military experts say Bachmut is increasingly surrounded by Russian forces, according to the British Defense Ministry’s daily intelligence update on the war in Ukraine on Sunday.

The current developments in the live ticker:

Several civilian casualties in Russian attacks on Kherson and Kharkiv

According to information from Kiev, several civilians were killed and injured in Russian attacks in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Sunday. The Ukrainian General Staff did not provide any further information about the victims in its situation report in the evening. The city was fired on at least 40 times with rocket launchers, damaging numerous residential buildings. The eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was also the target of Russian multiple rocket launcher attacks. At least five people were injured in hits in a residential building.

The war, which has been going on for almost a year, has repeatedly hit civilian infrastructure, even though Russia claims it only attacks military targets. More than 7,000 civilians have been killed since the Russian invasion, according to the UN.

Green faction leader urges partner states to supply tanks

The deputy leader of the Greens in Germany, Agnieszka Brugger, has called on Germany’s European partners to act quickly when it comes to supplying main battle tanks. “Given the threat of a major Russian offensive, we have no time to lose in a major European effort to give Ukraine all the tank systems we can somehow spare,” she told the “Tagesspiegel” (Monday). That is in the European interest.

After the decision to supply Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine, the German federal government has struggled to get commitments from other countries. After the political approval of the supplies, the planned alliance is not yet complete, government circles in Berlin reported to the German news agency last weekend. However, Poland and Canada have started to take concrete steps – Portugal made a commitment over the weekend for the delivery of more modern Leopard 2A6s, which Germany also wants to give.

That will be important on Monday

The fate of Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov may become clear on Monday. A change of personnel at the top of a ministry must be ordered by President Zelenskyj and approved by the Rada, the Ukrainian parliament. (sda/dpa)