Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to replace his defense minister is seen as an attempt to clean up the government’s image from corruption scandals.
However, the appointment of Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar and Muslim, is a sign that Ukraine is serious about reclaiming territory Russia annexed in 2014.
Speculation about the replacement of Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defense minister since November 2021, has grown in recent months.
Although Reznikov was not personally charged with any crime, it is widely believed that he was unable to prevent corruption from penetrating his ministry.
Reznikov was with Zelensky from the first day of the Russian invasion.
Military procurement scandals and bribery allegations against officials at enlistment centers have damaged Reznikov’s image in Ukrainian society, which needs a morale boost amid a slower-than-expected offensive.
Who is Rustem Umerov?
Rustem Umerov, 41, is a civil servant who for the past year headed the State Property Fund of Ukraine.
However, he is best known for negotiating with Russia and organizing successful prisoner exchanges.
Although it is not entirely unknown, it has not been in the focus of the media either.
Umerov is a Crimean Tatar born in exile and an active member of this ethnic group, trying to reestablish its place and its cultural identity.
The most important thing for Ukrainians is that he has not been accused of corruption, embezzlement or profiteering.
In 2019, Umerov got his start in politics by running for Parliament with the reformist Holos partyalthough he later abandoned it to become a civil servant.
Previously, he worked in the private sector, first in telecommunications and later in investments.
In 2013, he founded a charitable program to help educate Ukrainians at the prestigious Stanford University in the United States.
However, the most important feature of its identity is precisely its Crimean Tatar roots and the role it can play in Ukraine’s firm intention to regain control over that region.
The annexation of Crimea in 2014
While Umerov criticized Russia’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula, he was also negotiating with Moscow for the release of several Tatars arrested in Crimea since 2014, back to Ukraine.
Speaking to the BBC shortly after the start of the war in 2022, Umerov said he was determined “to find a political and diplomatic solution to this brutal invasion.”
Zelensky confirmed that he will seek parliamentary approval to name Umerov his new defense minister, arguing that the ministry “requires new approaches and new ways of engaging both with the army and with society in general.”
For now, a full-scale military attack on Crimea may seem a long way off. Some analysts consider Ukraine’s intentions to regain the borders it had before 2014 to be unrealistic.
However, the appointment of a Crimean Tatar to a key role in fulfilling these intentions sends a clear message that this is Kyiv’s purpose.
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See original article on BBC