Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says personnel changes are being carried out at senior and lower levels of his government following high-profile graft allegations.
Key points:
- A shake-up of senior and junior personnel within the Ukrainian government has seen several resignations and sackings
- Front lines in the Russia-Ukraine war have been largely frozen in place for two months despite heavy losses on both sides
- Poland has made an official request to Germany to re-export Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
Reports of a new scandal in Ukraine, which has a long history of shaky governance, come as European countries bicker over giving it German-made Leopard 2 tanks — the workhorse of armies across Europe that Ukraine says it needs to break through Russian lines and recapture territory.
“There are already personnel decisions — some today, some tomorrow — regarding officials at various levels in ministries and other central government structures, as well as in the regions and in law enforcement,” Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address late on Monday.
The deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, later said he had asked the president to relieve him of his duties.
He did not give a reason but media reported earlier that he might be part of a shake-up.
“I thank the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the trust and the opportunity to do good deeds every day and every minute,” Mr Tymoshenko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
His announcement was followed by the resignation of the deputy defence minister, who was responsible for supplying troops with food and equipment.
Vyacheslav Shapovalov cited “media accusations” of corruption that he and the ministry say are baseless for his decision.
A statement on the defence ministry’s website said Mr Shapavalov’s resignation was “a worthy deed” that would help retain trust in the ministry.
Tuesday morning also saw the sacking of the country’s Deputy Prosecutor-General, Oleksiy Symonenko.
A presidential adviser said the personnel shake-up showed Mr Zelenskyy was reacting to a “key public demand” that justice should apply to everyone.
“Zelenskyy’s personnel decisions testify to the key priorities of the state … The president sees and hears society. And he directly responds to a key public demand — justice for all,” the official, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter.
On Sunday, anti-corruption police said they had detained the deputy infrastructure minister on suspicion of receiving a $569,000 kickback over the importation of generators last September, an allegation the minister denies.
A newspaper accused the defence ministry of overpaying suppliers for soldiers’ food.
The supplier has said it made a technical mistake and no money had changed hands.
David Arakhamia, head of Mr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People Party, said officials should “focus on the war, help victims, cut bureaucracy and stop dubious business”.
“We’re definitely going to be jailing actively this spring,” he said.
“If the humane approach doesn’t work, we’ll do it in line with martial law.”
Poland makes official tank request
Front lines in the war have been largely frozen in place for two months despite heavy losses on both sides.
Ukraine says Western tanks would give its troops the firepower to break Russian defensive lines.
Germany had now received Poland’s official request to re-export Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the Polish defence minister said on Tuesday, as Warsaw cranked up the pressure on Berlin to give its approval.
Ukraine wants the German-made Leopard 2, one of the most widely used Western tanks, to help it break through Russian lines and recapture territory this year.
Germany, whose approval is required for re-export of the tanks, has held back, wary of prompting Moscow to escalate the conflict.
“The Germans have already received our request for permission to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine,” Mariusz Blaszczak wrote on Twitter.
“I also appeal to the German side to join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks,” he added.
“This is our common cause, because the security of the whole of Europe is at stake!”
Berlin has said it is willing to act quickly if there is a consensus among those allies.
“We will treat the proceedings with the urgency they deserve,” a spokesperson for the German government said.
American politicians have pressed their government to export M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, saying even a symbolic number would help push European allies to do the same.
Britain has said it will supply 14 Challenger 2 tanks, while French President Emmanuel Macron says he has not ruled out the possibility of sending Leclerc tanks.
Russia has sought to apply its own pressure.
“All countries which take part, directly or indirectly, in pumping weapons into Ukraine and in raising its technological level bear responsibility” for continuing the conflict, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Ukraine and Russia are both believed to be planning spring offensives to break the deadlock in what has become a war of attrition in eastern and southern Ukraine.
“If the major Russian offensive planned for this time fails, it will be the ruin of Russia and Putin,” Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, said in an interview with news site Delfi.
Meanwhile, Russian forces have pounded Donetsk in Ukraine’s east.
Ukrainian forces repelled 11 attacks, 10 of them in the Donetsk region, including in the areas of the town of Bakhmut and the village of Klishchiivka to the south, Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday.
Last week, Russia claimed the capture of Klishchiivka. Russian forces have been pressing for months for control of Bakhmut but with limited success.
Reuters could not verify battlefield reports.
‘Acting against the West’
In the 11 months since invading Ukraine, Russia has shifted its rhetoric on the war from an operation to “denazify” and “demilitarise” its neighbour to casting it as defence against an aggressive West. Ukraine and its Western allies call it an unprovoked act of aggression.
On Monday, the new general in charge of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine warned that modern Russia had never seen such “intensity of military hostilities”, forcing it to carry out offensive operations.
“Our country and its armed forces are today acting against the entire collective West,” Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov told the news website Argumenty i Fakty.
Military reforms announced mid-January could be adjusted to respond to threats to Russia’s security, which include Sweden and Finland’s aspirations to join NATO and “the use of Ukraine as a tool for waging a hybrid war against our country”, he said.
Reuters