Image Source: Agencies
Six of Ukraine's deputy defense ministers were fired on Monday after Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was fired two weeks ago over a corruption scandal, officials said, as fierce fighting continued in the east.
The Deputy Ministers of Defense, including Hanna Maliar, Vitalii Deyneha, and Denys Sharapov, as well as State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense Kostiantyn Vashchenko, were dismissed, according to the Telegram account of the permanent representative of the Cabinet of Ministers, Taras Melnytchuk.
Melnychuk did not provide an explanation for the firing, but the government was investigating allegations of military corruption related to equipment purchases. Crimean Tatar lawmaker Rustem Umerov, who became the defense minister, did not immediately make a statement.
Reznikov was fired earlier this month after a scandal involving the purchase of military jackets for the Ministry of Defense at three times the price. Reznikov denied the allegations but resigned.
The department's agreements came a day after Ukraine's military said it had recaptured the village of Klishchiivka from Russian forces after months of fierce fighting. Fighting continued on Monday as troops tried to capture the village south of the Russian-held town of Bahamut in eastern Donetsk province.
Its recapture followed the recapture of the nearby village of Andriivka.
"The enemy is trying with all its might to regain the lost positions," Maliar said at a press conference on Monday before the dismissal. "That's why our fighters hold back enemy attacks there and establish themselves on the reached borders." The recapture of Klishchiivka is considered tactically important, allowing Ukrainian forces to extend their advance around Bahmut.
In other fighting, six civilians were killed and 16 wounded in the past 24 hours, the president's office said.
The Russians attacked residential areas in eight towns and villages in the Donetsk region, including Avdiivka and Kurdiumivka, killing one and injuring four. Five artillery strikes at Kherson killed one and wounded one.
In the nearby town of Beryslav, Russians dropped explosives from a drone near the local bus station, injuring four people, the president's office said. Ukraine's air force said it intercepted all 17 Russian-launched cruise missiles and 18 of 24 Shaded drones in the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Odesa early Monday.
Odesa Region Governor Oleh Kiper said an entertainment center in the town of Vylkovo was damaged in the attack, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. Vylkovo, often called the "Venice of Ukraine" because of its many canals, is located in the Danube Delta on the Romanian border.
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