Ukraine’s defence minister to be reshuffled into another job, Zelenskiy ally says; Ukraine braces for possible major Russian offensive this month
Ukraine’s defence minister, under pressure from a corruption scandal, is to be, a close ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced. Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced by Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence. His position had been under threat after it emerged the defence ministry paid twice or three times the supermarket price of food to supply troops on the frontline.
“There are already many reports that the occupiers want to do something symbolic in February to try to avenge their last year’s defeats,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his Sunday night address. “We see this increased pressure in various areas of the frontline, as well as pressure in the information field.”
, Reznikov, has claimed. “Not all of the western weaponry will arrive in time. But we are ready. We have created our resources and reserves, which we are able to deploy and with which we are able to hold back the attack.” Reznikov added that the attack would be for “symbolic” reasons but its resources were not ready from a military point of view. “Despite everything, we expect a possible Russian offensive in February.
Reznikov claimed that Moscow was losing “500 killed and wounded every day in Bakhmut” – a figure that it is not possible to verify. Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Bakhmut was becoming “increasingly isolated”, in its latest intelligence assessment which noted that Russia now had the two main roads into the city under threat from direct artillery fire, making it harder to supply the defending forces into the town.
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