Replacement in defense

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko accepted a report on the resignation of the Minister of Defense Valery Geletey, the press service of the head of state reports . The president emphasized that it was time to change the leadership of the military department.

Already on Monday, Poroshenko will bring the candidacy of the new head of the Ministry of Defense to the risk. “I am sure that we will not pull with the vote for the candidacy of the new minister. I expect that it will happen on Tuesday,” the president said.

The decision to change the heads of the Ministry of Defense and the State Border Service, as well as the appointment of Igor Smeshko, chairman of the intelligence committee, will seriously strengthen the law enforcement agencies and strengthen the defense capability of Ukraine, Poroshenko noted.

On October 6, Poroshenko dismissed the chairman of the State Border Service of Ukraine Nikolai Litvin and his first deputy Pavel Shisholin from their posts. On October 6, he appointed Lieutenant General Viktor Nazarenko to the post of first deputy head of the State Border Service, director of the Department of State Border Protection.

On October 8, Poroshenko appointed his adviser to Smeshko as chairman of the recreated intelligence committee under the President of Ukraine. The structure will coordinate intelligence in the interests of ensuring the military security of the state.

Geletey has served as Minister of Defense of Ukraine since the beginning of July . Since the end of March, the duty of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine was performed by Mikhail Koval. Before him, this post was held by Igor Tenyukh within a month.

Previously, Gelets for a long time served in the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including in the Kiev department for the fight against organized crime. From 2007 to 2009, Geletey headed the Office of the State Protection of Ukraine. In early March of this year, after the victory of the Maidan, he was again appointed to this position.