KYIV, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Ukraine sacked the governors of five military regions and a group of other officials on Tuesday in the biggest shakeup of its military leadership since Russia invaded last year.
Separately on Tuesday, a long-awaited decision on whether the allies will send German-made heavy tanks to Ukraine came to Berlin, after Poland submitted its request.
Among the more than a dozen Ukrainian officials who resigned or were dismissed on Tuesday were the governors of Kyiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. All five states have been in contention over the past year, giving their governors the highest national record.
The deputy minister of defense, the deputy prosecutor, the deputy head of the office of the President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and two ministers in charge of regional development and others left.
Some, though not all, were related to corruption. Ukraine has a history of unstable and unstable governance, and is under international pressure to show that it can be a reliable steward of billions of dollars in Western aid.
“There are already staff elections – some today, some tomorrow – involving officials in various positions and other government agencies, as well as in the law enforcement sector,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a late-night video.
Zelenskiy’s aide Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted: “The president sees and listens to the people. And he responds directly to what the people want – justice for all.”
The purge came two days after a deputy development minister was arrested and charged with embezzling $400,000 in generator contracts in one of the biggest corruption scandals to come to light since the war began 11 months ago.
The Defense Ministry said Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who is in charge of military supply, has resigned to preserve confidence after what he called false allegations of corruption. This followed a newspaper report that the ministry had paid large sums of money to buy soldiers, which the ministry denied.
The prosecutor’s office did not say the reason for the removal of Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Symonenko, who had been criticized by the Ukrainian media for going on holiday in Spain. Although Zelenskiy did not name any officials in his address, he did announce a new ban on officials going on vacation abroad.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy chief of staff in Zelenskiy’s office, announced his resignation, without giving a reason. He helped run the 2019 presidential election campaign and most recently held a regional management position.
The changes are a rare change to Kyiv’s staid wartime leadership. Apart from purging the spy agency in July, Zelenskiy has remained with his team, building close ties with the political elite that the former television personality replaced when he was narrowly elected in 2019.
TIME TO THINK ABOUT TANKS
[1/5] Ukrainian soldiers are seen near the frontline, amid Russia’s offensive on Ukraine, near Soledar in Donetsk region, Ukraine January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak
Poland’s announcement that it has asked Berlin for permission to send German-made tanks to Ukraine appears to leave German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to continue delaying a decision that has become a major dispute among allies on how to help Ukraine.
“I hope that the answer from Germany will come quickly, because the Germans are slow, evasive, doing things that are difficult to understand,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a press conference. “We can see that they don’t want to help Ukraine defend itself in many ways.”
A German government spokesman said: “We will deal with the situation as quickly as possible.”
Kyiv has been pleading for months for Western tanks, which it says it needs to give its units firepower and maneuverability to break through Russian defense lines and recapture captured territories.
The German Leopards, which are operated by armies all over Europe, appear to be the best option, widely available and easy to use and maintain. But Germany has so far refused to be forced to commit to any Leopards, and has so far said its allies have not asked for permission to send their own.
“The Germans have already accepted our request to allow us to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine,” Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak wrote on Twitter.
“I also ask the German side to join the coalition of countries that are helping Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks,” he added. “This is our common cause, because the security of all Europe is at stake!”
A German army chief said the deployment of tanks was a political decision. Another official said the decision was up to Scholz and his cabinet.
“At the end of the day, the decision will be taken at the chancellery, in agreement with the government,” Tobias Lindner, secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a security conference in Berlin organized by Handelsblatt.
‘SPRING WILL BE CHOICES’
The front lines of the battle were largely halted for two months despite heavy losses on both sides. Both Russia and Ukraine are believed to be planning offensives in the coming months.
Western countries pledged billions of dollars in military aid last week, but did not respond to Kyiv’s request for hundreds of battle tanks, pending a decision from Germany on the future of the Leopards.
A Ukrainian official said the coming spring and summer will be decisive.
“If the big attack on Russia that is being planned this time cannot be carried out, then Russia and Putin will be destroyed,” said Vadym Skibitsky, the deputy head of the Ukrainian military intelligence in an interview with the Delfi media center.
Reuters Bureaus Reports, By Peter Graff, Editing by Timothy Heritage
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