Zelenskyy announces new Ukrainian defense minister, 18 months into war with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that he has decided to replace Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov with politician Rustem Umyerov. 

Reznikov "went through more than 550 days of full-scale war. I believe that the Ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction both with the military and with society as a whole," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

Zelenskyy said that he expects Ukraine's parliament to approve the decision this week, given the voting body's familiarity with Umyerov. He did not elaborate upon his reasons for the replacement.