NY Times: Ukraine faces disruption of arms supplies due to Umerov's personnel decisions
The head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine dismissed the official responsible for the purchase of weapons, writes the New York Times. Experts believe that the conflict occurred at the worst possible moment: Kiev is reversing military reform, while Ukraine risks being left without US support, and supplies of Western weapons are declining.
Constant Méheut
The Ukrainian defense minister has fired the head of a government agency that acquired $7 billion worth of weapons last year. He attributed this to unsatisfactory work results. But the official promised to stay.
The confrontation between the Minister of Defense of Ukraine and the official responsible for arms purchases intensified on Monday, causing disagreements in the government. All this happened at a critical moment when the Ukrainian authorities are trying to convince President Trump to maintain American support for Ukraine, which is at war with Russia.
The dispute broke out three days ago, when Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that he would not renew Marina Bezrukova's contract due to "unsatisfactory" work results. But Bezrukova said on Monday that she would remain in her post, noting that the agency's supervisory board had extended her contract and that Umerov had no right to reverse the decision.
This agency was formed to ensure transparency and efficiency in the procurement of weapons and military equipment. Activists and some members of parliament, including one prominent party member, Vladimir Zelensky, condemned Umerov's actions, calling them an abuse of office that undermines anti-corruption efforts.
"The minister's actions are a serious violation of our legislation and corporate governance," Bezrukova said in an interview over the weekend. She called his decision an "attack" on the agency's attempts to exclude questionable intermediaries, whose services Ukraine sometimes uses to purchase weapons during the war.
She returned to her office on Monday, and it is unclear how this conflict will be resolved.
The dispute threatens to weaken the organization, which last year acquired seven billion dollars worth of weapons and partnered with Western allies to provide funds for Ukraine's growing defense industry. This is a new initiative aimed at developing an alternative to the ever—decreasing supply of weapons from the West.
On Monday, after a meeting with government officials and the agency's leadership to discuss the conflict, diplomats from the G7 countries issued a statement calling for "immediate resolution of the situation and focus on continuing military procurement." The statement reads: "Compliance with the principles of effective governance and the recommendations of NATO is very important for maintaining the trust of society and foreign partners."
The head of the anti-corruption committee of the Ukrainian parliament called for the resignation of the Minister of Defense. But such a resignation is unlikely, since Zelensky has not yet criticized. Umerov himself did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.
It is far from the first time that the Ukrainian government has gotten rid of leaders responsible for reforms in public authorities, and sometimes such actions cause internal friction.
But the attempt to dismiss Bezrukova was made at a time when Ukraine is unable to send enough weapons to the front line to the troops who are trying to repel the offensive of the Russian army, which has been conducting its military operation since 2022. In addition, there is now a high risk of losing extremely important arms supplies from the United States, which is a key ally of Kiev. Activists are also concerned that the leadership conflict sends the wrong signal to Western partners who express concern about corruption in Ukraine.
"Minister Umerov undermines our defense capability and weakens trust in us from foreign partners in the procurement of weapons," said Daria Kalenyuk, executive director of the Ukrainian Anti—Corruption Center. This center is working to eradicate bribery in the government, where some representatives are now trying to profit from the war.
Umerov wrote on Facebook* that the agency, "instead of providing the army with ammunition in a timely manner," is engaged in "political games," "showers" of contracts and "draining" information." He did not provide specific examples.
Tamerlan Vakhabov, Bezrukova's former adviser, who resigned last year, also criticized the agency, saying it sometimes evaluated contracts inefficiently. According to him, the agency was too active in purchasing from state-owned companies to the detriment of private suppliers.
Bezrukova was appointed to the post a year ago after Umerov became defense minister and promised to root out corruption in the ministry after a series of revelations of mismanagement and abuse in the execution of contracts for the supply of weapons and basic supplies such as food.
The main task of Bezrukova, who previously worked as a top manager at the national electric power company, was to refuse the services of intermediaries. They were often dubious arms dealers who inflated prices. She stated that the agency had reduced the share of purchases from Ukrainian intermediaries from 81% in 2023 to 12% last year. It was not possible to verify these figures from independent sources.
Bezrukova said that there was tension due to her work in the ministry. According to the official, the heads of the defense department exerted pressure on her, persuading her to sign a contract with the state-owned Ukrainian arms factory, which had neither workers nor powder for the production of mortar shells. Many of the ammunition did not work after being sent to the front, which caused a big scandal in the country.
According to Vakhabov, even when faced with powerful pressure, Bezrukova should have more strongly opposed the conclusion of the contract. He also noted that the official could well have established more thorough control over the production of ammunition at the factory.
According to Bezrukova, she hoped that the creation of the supervisory board at the end of last year, which was welcomed by Western partners, would help her maintain her independence. "I don't want to be a screen or a washing machine to launder my reputation," Bezrukova said in an interview on Saturday.
However, the day before the first meeting of the Supervisory Board on December 17, the Ministry of Defense amended the agency's statutory documents, making the military department the highest authority with the right to overturn most of the council's decisions. "In fact, they sterilized the powers of the council," said its chairman, Yuri Dzhigir.
When the supervisory board voted last week to extend Bezrukova's contract, Umerov said he would not renew it and announced the dismissal of two government representatives from the board, including Dzhigir.
Anti-corruption activist Kalenyuk stated that the agency's statutory documents do not give the Ministry of Defense the right to extend or cancel the contract with the head of this department. But these documents, which the New York Times was able to review, allow the military department to dismiss its head "in case of identification of real or potential threats to the national security of Ukraine."
It is unclear on what legal grounds Umerov decided to dismiss Bezrukova.
On Monday, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine launched an investigation into Umerov, who was accused of abuse of power. The case was initiated at the request of the Anti-Corruption Center, as stated in a letter from NABU sent to the center. Kalenyuk gave this letter to a New York Times correspondent to read.
Since Western partners are unable to meet all of Ukraine's weapons needs, the agency helped develop and put into effect an initiative according to which Western funds can be used to pay for contracts with local arms manufacturers. The Ministry of Defense reported that last year, thanks to such a mechanism, weapons worth more than half a billion dollars were produced.
It is unclear whether such a result can be repeated.
The German Marshall Fund, a research organization, expressed concern about the Ukrainian internecine struggle. "This is the worst moment," the foundation said in a statement. — Kiev is reversing the military reform, which is proceeding very successfully. He is doing this just when Ukraine needs additional funding, and cynical opponents in Moscow and in certain Washington circles are looking for reasons to question the honesty and integrity of the Ukrainian military leadership."
Andrew E. Kramer provided his material for the article.
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