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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that defense minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced this week with Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar lawmaker.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy made the announcement on his official Telegram account, writing that new leadership was needed after Reznikov went through \u201cmore than 550 days of full-scale war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later in his nightly address, Zelenskyy said he believes \u201cthat the Ministry needs new approaches and different formats of interaction both with the military and with society.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH:<\/strong> After slow start to counteroffensive, Ukrainian forces make notable gains against Russia<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine is well acquainted with this person, and Umerov does not require additional introductions. I expect support for this candidacy from parliament,\u201d the president told the nation.<\/p>\n

Umerov, 41, a politician with the opposition Holos party, has served as head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine since September 2022. He was involved in the exchange of prisoners of war, political prisoners, children and civilians, as well as the evacuation of civilians from occupied territories. Umierov was also part of the Ukrainian delegation in negotiations with Russia over the U.N.-backed grain deal.<\/p>\n

In August, a scandal arose around the Ministry of Defense\u2019s procurement of military jackets. Ukrainian investigative journalists reported that the materials were purchased at a price three times higher than normal and that instead of winter jackets, summer ones were ordered. In the customs documents from the supplier, the jackets were priced at $29 per unit, but the Ministry of Defense paid $86 per unit. Reznikov denied the allegations during a news conference last week.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that he\u2019s aware Zelenskyy had replaced his defense chief. Asked if he had any comment, Biden said, \u201cnot publicly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy\u2019s announcement came after two people were hospitalized following a 3\u00bd-hour Russian drone barrage<\/a> on a port in Ukraine\u2019s Odesa region on Sunday, officials said.<\/p>\n

The attack on the Reni seaport comes a day before\u00a0Russian President\u00a0Vladimir Putin\u00a0is due to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u00a0to discuss the resumption of food shipments\u00a0from Ukraine under a Black Sea grain agreement that\u00a0Moscow broke off from in July.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Turkey\u2019s president is meeting Putin in a bid to revive the Black Sea grain deal. Here\u2019s what\u2019s at stake<\/a><\/p>\n

Russian forces fired 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones along the Danube River in the early hours of Sunday, 22 of which were shot down by air defenses, the Ukrainian air force said on Telegram.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President\u00a0Volodymyr Zelenskyy\u00a0\u2019s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, described the assault as part of a Russian drive \u201cto provoke a food crisis and hunger in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the attack was aimed at fuel storage facilities used to supply military equipment.<\/p>\n

Putin and Erdogan\u2019s long-awaited meeting is due to take place in Sochi on Russia\u2019s southwest coast on Monday.<\/p>\n

Turkish officials have confirmed that the pair will discuss renewing the Black Sea grain initiative, which the Kremlin pulled out of six weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The deal \u2014 brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 \u2014 had allowed nearly 33 million metric tons (36 million tons) of grain and other commodities to leave three Ukrainian ports safely despite Russia\u2019s war.<\/p>\n

However, Russia broke away from the agreement after claiming that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn\u2019t been honored.<\/p>\n

Moscow complained that restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade, even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year.<\/p>\n

The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraine\u2019s Black Sea exports to resume.<\/p>\n

Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putin\u2019s position. In July, he said Putin had \u201ccertain expectations from Western countries\u201d over the Black Sea deal and that it was \u201ccrucial for these countries to take action in this regard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in Ukraine, three people were killed in two separate attacks by Russian shelling in the Donetsk area Sunday. An 85-year-old man was named among the victims after being crushed by the rubble of his own home, Ukraine\u2019s Prosecutors\u2019 Office reported.<\/p>\n

A 36-year-old man was also killed in another Russian attack on Ukraine\u2019s Kherson region.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian prosecutors announced Sunday that they had opened a war crimes investigation into the death of a police officer killed by Russian shelling on the town of Seredyna-Buda on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Two other police officers and one civilian were wounded during the attack, which hit Ukraine\u2019s north-eastern Sumy region.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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[ad_1] KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that defense minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced this week with Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar lawmaker. Zelenskyy made the announcement on his official Telegram account, writing that new leadership was needed after Reznikov went through \u201cmore than 550 days of full-scale war.\u201d Later<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[39],"class_list":{"0":"post-4760","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n