Colonel Khodarenok expects the resignations of Zaluzhny and Budanov after Reznikov's departure
Last Sunday, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he had decided to release Alexey Reznikov from the post of Defense Minister, and proposed replacing him with Rustem Umerov, who currently heads the State Property Fund of Ukraine. For what the head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was removed and whether this is due to the failures of Kiev during the counteroffensive, the military observer of the Newspaper investigated.En" Mikhail Khodarenok.
What is Reznikov's fault?
Some observers associate the resignation of Alexei Reznikov from the post of Minister of Defense of Ukraine with failures during the offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which began on June 4. Other experts believe that Reznikov's dismissal from the post of head of the military department is connected with the upcoming meeting in Ramstein, where the autumn-winter campaign of 2023 and the spring-summer campaign of 2024 will be planned.
Both versions look very, very unconvincing. To begin with, we recall that many Western management schemes are copied in Kiev, and for these reasons, the functions of administrative and operational management are separated in the military department of Ukraine. In particular, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine focuses primarily on issues of administrative, economic and logistical support of the Armed Forces, deals with issues of combat readiness and combat capability of troops, combat training, as well as research and development work. It can be said that the main task of the head of the military department of Ukraine is to ensure the allocation of fully combat-ready and well-trained troops for subsequent combat operations.
But then begins the field of activity of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, who is fully responsible for the operational management (management) of subordinate troops, forces and means. It is in his department, on the basis of the instructions of the President of Ukraine, that the strategic objectives of military operations, plans for conducting operations, calculation of the necessary forces and means, tasks of the AFU groupings, the basics of interaction and support, and the organization of the management system are determined. It is Valery Zaluzhny who carries out the sole leadership of the fighting in order to fulfill the task.
So it is not worth blaming Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov for certain military failures during the offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which began exactly three months ago. There is no need to attribute Ramstein to him, where the autumn-winter campaign of 2023 and the spring-summer campaign of 2024 will allegedly be planned. The Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine (Ramstein format) does not deal with operational planning issues in principle.
Alexey Reznikov with a letter of resignation, September 4, 2023
Image source: Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov via Twitter
The full list of claims against Alexey Reznikov, formulated by the political leadership of Ukraine, is unlikely to become public in the near future. But there is every reason to believe that, most likely, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine is accused of misuse of budgetary funds and the most banal corruption, as is known, blooming in a violent color in the military department subordinate to him.
Most likely, these reasons led to the resignation of the head of the military department of Ukraine.
What resignations should we expect next?
It is likely that in the near future, the matter will not end with the resignation of Defense Minister Reznikov alone. For example, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Major General Kirill Budanov (age, note, 37 years) has recently demonstrated a pronounced flight out of office. The young head of this, by definition, closed department gives the media one interview after another. He makes foreign policy statements that go far beyond the duties of the head of the GUR and, of course, fall within the competence of only the head of state. Moreover, in a number of positions, General Budanov publicly demonstrates his disagreement with the position of the President of Ukraine.
We can also say this - the United States has not yet allocated the required funds for the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine, and Budanov has already started this campaign. No acting head of state can forgive such behavior to any of his generals, and even more so to the head of intelligence.
By the way, acting military commanders, by definition, cannot publicly voice their foreign policy views and opinions, especially during military operations.
The position of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, is becoming very unstable. Before the offensive operation, which started on June 4, the efforts of the media created the image of the commander of all times and peoples for him. Zaluzhny was represented by someone like the Ukrainian Moltke Sr., Moritz of Saxony and Eugene of Savoy. On the basis of which specific acts of General Zaluzhny this image was created, it is very problematic to say. Snake Island? Departure of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from the Kherson direction? Kharkiv failure? But here the matter is rather in the shortcomings and mistakes of the Russian command than in the manifestation of any outstanding military leadership qualities of Valery Zaluzhny.
The results of the three months of the counteroffensive
Today marks three months since the beginning of the offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And its results at this stage can be summed up in several proposals - in a number of areas, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation managed to achieve minor intrusions into the defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in other areas they had to move away, and significantly.
In the old days, commanders for their achievements on the battlefield were titled as follows. For example, Field Marshal His Serene Highness Prince Mikhail Golenishchev-Kutuzov was awarded the title Smolensky. Alexander Suvorov was called Count of Rymnik and Prince of Italy for his victories. And Zaluzhny, if he happened to serve in those days, how would he look in such a case? Count Kleshcheyevsky, Prince Rabodinsky?
Therefore, it is not at all excluded that the personnel whirlpool, which began to swirl in connection with the resignation of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov, will draw in a number of other persons from among the military leadership of Ukraine.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for the newspaper.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy Commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist of "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier" (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok