Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov resigns – source
20 June 2024 20:41
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
It has become known that the Minister of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umerov has written a letter of resignation from his post. According to sources
“The decision to resign has already been made. Moreover, the government has already decided on a new minister. It will be Ruslan Khomchak,” the source said
. [Kommersant]
It should be noted that Rustem Umerov became the head of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine in early September 2023. The Verkhovna Rada appointed him to the post on 6 September. Prior to that, Umerov served as the head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, where he joined in early September 2022.
Unlike his predecessor, Oleksiy Reznikov, the politician has not been involved in any high-profile scandals during this period.
The reasons that prompted Rustem Umerov to write a letter of resignation remain unknown at the moment. This information
“A month ago I said that instead of Syrskyy, Moisyuk would be in charge, and instead of Umerov, Khomchak would be in charge. I was told this on Bankova Street. Given that I have not received any new messages, it is only a matter of time,” he said.
What we know about Ruslan Khomchak
Ruslan Khomchak is a Ukrainian military man, Colonel-General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In the past, he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2020-2021) and Chief of the General Staff. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2019-2020), Chief of Staff of the Land Forces of Ukraine (2015-2017), Commander of the troops of the Operational Command “South” (2014-2015), Commander of the 6th Army Corps (2012-2014).
Participant in the war in eastern Ukraine, commander of Sector B, took part in the battles for Ilovaisk.
Ruslan Khomchak was born in 1967 in Lviv. After school, he entered the Moscow Higher Military Command School named after the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, graduating in 1988.
In 1988-1992, Khomchak served in the Soviet Group of Forces in Germany, where he commanded a motorised rifle platoon, and in the Belarusian Military District as a motorised rifle company commander.
In 2001, he completed his military education at the operational and tactical level at the National Defence Academy of Ukraine. He graduated with a gold medal.
In 2008, he graduated with a gold medal from the Faculty of Operational and Strategic Training of the National Defence Academy of Ukraine.
From July to December 2014, Khomchak was in charge of Sector B of the ATO forces in Donbas. In 2015-2017, he held the position of Chief of Staff – First Deputy Commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and then served as Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Defence for two years.
In 2019, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
on 6 December 2019, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi promoted Khomchak to the rank of Colonel-General, and on 28 March 2020, he dismissed him from the post of Chief of the General Staff and appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Khomchak is married for the second time. In 2020, Khomchak, then 53 years old, married 29-year-old Hanna Kovalenko.
