Numerous senior Ukrainian officers resigned or had been fired on January 24 as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged to eradicate corruption from his administration amid a high-profile graft scandal that’s threatening to erode the so-far staunch Western help for the management in Kyiv.
The shake-ups got here as Poland despatched an official request to Berlin to re-export its German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Berlin has obtained Warsaw’s request, Polish Protection Minister Mariusz Błaszczak mentioned in a tweet.
A German authorities supply advised Reuters that Warsaw’s request to re-export as much as 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine has been obtained, though Germany didn’t instantly verify that formally.
Germany had initially confirmed reluctance each to offering such tanks to Kyiv itself or permitting third nations which have Leopard tanks to ship them to Ukraine.
However Berlin has come underneath intense strain from Ukraine and a number of other NATO allies to vary its place and permit the export of the Leopards.
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NATO Secretary-Basic Jens Stoltenberg mentioned on January 24 that he was assured the alliance will discover a resolution quickly on the supply of battle tanks to Ukraine.
“At this pivotal second within the conflict, we should present heavier and extra superior programs to Ukraine, and we should do it quicker,” Stoltenberg advised reporters, after talks with German Protection Minister Boris Pistorius.
On January 23, the German protection group Rheinmetall mentioned it might ship 139 Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine if required over the following a number of months.
The Kremlin in the meantime mentioned that German tank deliveries to Ukraine would convey “nothing good to the long run relationship” between Berlin and Moscow. “They are going to go away an enduring mark,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned January 24.
The event on doable tank deliveries got here as Ukrainian authorities moved to crack down on corruption, with three senior officers asserting their exit Tuesday.
Early on January 24, the deputy head of the presidential administration, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, introduced on January 24 that he had tendered his resignation to Zelenskiy.
“I thank the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the belief and the chance to do good deeds daily and each minute,” Tymoshenko wrote on the Telegram messaging, including, “Thanks to the armed forces for saving and defending our nation.”
Shortly after Tymoshenko’s announcement, Deputy Protection Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was chargeable for supplying troops with meals and tools, additionally resigned, citing “media accusations” of corruption.
A press release on the Protection Ministry’s web site mentioned that Shapovalov’s resignation was “a worthy deed” that may assist retain belief within the ministry.
Additionally on January 24, Deputy Prosecutor-Basic Oleksiy Symonenko was fired in what the Prosecutor-Basic’s Workplace mentioned was a shake-up of senior officers.
A assertion asserting his dismissal gave no purpose for the choice however mentioned it had been “in keeping with his personal want.”
Two deputy ministers — Vyacheslav Nehoda and Ivan Lukerya — additionally resigned from Ukraine’s Ministry of Communities and the Improvement of Territories on January 24.
Nehoda and Lukerya each confirmed the strikes on their Fb pages.
The departures of the three officers got here after Zelenskiy introduced on January 23 in his nightly handle that he would make personnel adjustments at senior and decrease ranges, following essentially the most high-profile graft scandal engulfing Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.
Oleh Nemchinov, a member of the Ukrainian authorities, later wrote on Telegram that the cupboard had authorised the elimination of Vitaliy Muzychenka, the deputy minister for social insurance policies.
Based on Nemchinov, the cupboard additionally authorised presidential decrees to sack the heads of regional navy administrations for the Dnipropetrovsk area (Valentyn Reznichenko), the Zaporizhzhya area (Oleksandr Starukh), the Kyiv area (Oleksiy Kuleba), the Sumy area (Dmytro Zhyvytskiy), and the Kherson area (Yaroslav Yanushevich).
The corruption scandal broke on January 22, when the Protection Ministry was accused by an investigative newspaper of overpaying suppliers for troops’ meals. The provider has mentioned a technical mistake was in charge and no more money had been given. The ministry mentioned the accusations had been baseless.
The identical day, Ukraine’s deputy infrastructure minister, Vasyl Lozynskiy, was detained on suspicion of receiving a $400,000 bribe over the importation of mills in September, an allegation he denies.
On the battlefield, Ukraine’s Basic Employees mentioned in its January 24 report that it repelled Russian assaults in 11 places within the Donetsk and Luhansk areas, with enemy fireplace concentrated primarily within the Bakhmut and Avdiyivka instructions, the place heavy combating has been underneath means for months.
The top of the Donetsk regional navy administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, mentioned three folks had been killed and three had been wounded by Russian shelling.
“On January 23, the Russians killed three residents of the Donetsk area: in Novopokrovskiy, Paraskoviyivka, and Chasovoy Yar,” Kyrylenko mentioned.
Russian forces additionally continued shelling Ukrainian positions in Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, and Lyman, the Basic Employees mentioned.
Entrance strains have been largely unchanged for 2 months regardless of heavy losses on either side and constant Russian bombardments.
