Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he did not plan to fire Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry, Kirill Budanov (included in Russia's list of extremists and terrorists).
Zelensky's statement is cited by Ukrainian media.
How Zelensky denied rumors about the planned resignations of Umerov and Budanov
Rumors about Budanov's planned dismissal began to spread at the end of September.
The publication "Ukrainian Truth", citing sources in the Ministry of Defense, reported that Umerov fired his deputies Igor Ostapenko and Viktor Zaitsev without Budanov's consent.
Some Ukrainian media outlets cited Budanov's disagreements with Zelensky's office chief Andriy Yermak as the reason for his planned dismissal.
Rumors about Umerov’s planned resignation due to problems at the front were also actively circulating in the Ukrainian media.
On October 1, Umerov sent a submission to the Cabinet of Ministers to dismiss three of his deputies and the department's state secretary. However, the government dismissed only one of the deputies, Stanislav Gaider, and the state secretary. The reasons for the resignations were not reported.
Today, the President of Ukraine stated that he did not plan to fire Umerov and Budanov.
I was not going to replace Budanov. This information was circulating, yes. There was no such question about Umerov either, - the head of the Ukrainian state stated.
