A day after announcing that Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced, a top ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared to row back for now, saying no personnel changes in the defence sector would be made this week.
Two senior lawmakers on Monday noted that rules require Ukraine's defence minister to be a civilian, which would appear to put an obstacle in the way of the immediate appointment of Budanov, a 37-year-old military officer.
'WAR DICTATES CHANGES'Arakhamia said Ukraine's armed forces should not be overseen by politicians during wartime, but by people with a background in defence or security.
As a wartime defence minister, Reznikov, 56, fostered ties with Western defence officials and helped oversee the receipt of billions of dollars of military aid to help Kyiv fend off the Russian invasion.
During his tenure as defence minister, he spoke out strongly about wartime corruption, which he said was akin to "marauding".