Russian drones fall and detonate in Romania in an overnight attack on a Ukrainian border region, Ukraine says. Ukraine is to replace the defense minister.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overnight on September 4, Russia launched another major drone attack on southern Ukraine. According to Ukraine\u2019s State Border Guard Service, some Iranian-made Russian drones fell and detonated in Romania, a NATO member. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s Air Force said it had shot down 23 out of 32 Iranian-made Shahed drones. Drones hit targets in Odesa and Dnipropetrovska regions. Russia targeted critical infrastructure facilities in the Izmail district in Odesa region that borders Romania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a major Russian attack near the port of Izmail, Shahed drones fell and detonated on the territory of Romania, spokesperson for Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Ministry Oleh Nikolenko said, quoting reports from the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is yet another confirmation that Russia\u2019s missile terror poses a huge threat not only to Ukraine\u2019s security, but also to the security of neighboring countries, including NATO member states,\u201d Nikolenko said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He called on Ukraine\u2019s allies to speed up the delivery of air and missile defense systems, and send fighter jets to Ukraine. This move will bolster security of critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine and its neighbors, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s State Border Guard Service observed two detonations on the territory of Romania during the Russian attack overnight and relayed the information to its Romanian counterparts, but received no reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Romania\u2019s Defense Ministry \u201ccategorically denied\u201d that Russian drones fell in Romania\u2019s territory overnight on September 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ministry observed Russia\u2019s attack on critical infrastructure facilities near Ukrainian ports on the Danube in real time, it said on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt no time did the means of attack used by Russia pose a direct military threat to Romania\u2019s national territory or territorial waters,\u201d Romania\u2019s Defense Ministry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On September 3, President Zelenskyi said that he would ask the Parliament to replace Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov with Rustem Umerov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Umerov has headed the State Property Fund since September 2022. He ran for parliament with Holos (Voice) party and was elected as MP in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reznikov\u2019s sacking follows a handful of procurement scandals in the Defense Ministry in which officials were accused of profiteering over purchasing of food and jackets at inflated prices. Reznikov was never implicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Umerov, a Crimea Tatar, is an advisor to Crimean Tatar leader, Mustafa Dzhemilev. In 1944, Umerov\u2019s family was forcibly deported from their native land in Crimea to Siberia and Central Asia, the fate of Crimean Tatars in the peninsula under the Soviet rule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian military journalist Yuriy Butusov is critical of Umerov\u2019s appointment, calling him \u201csomeone who is distant from the war\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe only thing that changes is the name. At the same time the president will be for a while protected from corruption scandals and incompetent management decisions of Reznikov by promises that the new minister will solve old problems,\u201d Butusov said. The candidate for the minister doesn\u2019t have a plan or understanding of what to do, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, said she was pleasantly surprised by Umerov\u2019s role in non-public advocacy of weapons for Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe often very quietly did the things that had failed in the Defense Ministry during the last year and a half. Rustem is one of a few in the government who has an overall strategic vision of the defense sector and the country\u2019s defense. [He is] a manager experienced in managing complex teams that the Defense Ministry, unfortunately, didn\u2019t have in the past year and a half,\u201d Kaleniuk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe very fact a Crimean Tatar was appointed as the minister of defense is a powerful message to the world of how Ukraine plans to end the war,\u201d Kaleniuk wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the board of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, said the appointment of Umerov as minister of defense will probably be the president\u2019s best decision. \u201cHis previous accomplishments best speak of his future actions in office,\u201d Shabunin said, disagreeing with Butusov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFirst, since the first day of war, Umerov has headed a non-public negotiation line on the supply of heavy weapons. Second, since February 2022, Umerov has been an important member of a group that negotiates the release of prisoners of war and that has liberated more than two thousand Ukrainian troops, including service members from the Azovstal garrison.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd one more important thing. With this appointment, Zelenskyi puts a final twist on the attempts by anyone, including our allies, to force us into ceding Crimea,\u201d Shabunin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n