WORLD NEWS Russia UKRAINE VLADIMIR PUTIN Zelenskyy Announces Plan To Replace Ukrainian Defense Minister The Ukrainian president said the Defense Ministry "needs new approaches and different formats of interaction both with the military and with society." KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that defense minister Oleksii Reznikov will be replaced this week with Rustem Umerov, a Crimean Tatar lawmaker. Zelenskyy made the announcement on his official Telegram account, writing that new leadership was needed after Umerov “has gone through more than 550 days of full-scale war.” ADVERTISEMENT Later in his nightly address, Zelenskyy said he believes “that the Ministry needs new approaches and different formats of interaction both with the military and with society.” “The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is well acquainted with this person, and Umerov does not require additional introductions. I expect support for this candidacy from parliament,” the president told the nation. Umerov, 41, a politician with the opposition Holos party, has served as head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine since September 2022. He was involved in the exchange of prisoners of war, political prisoners, children and civilians, as well as the evacuation of civilians from occupied territories. Umierov was also part of the Ukrainian delegation in negotiations with Russia over the U.N.-backed grain deal. In August, a scandal arose around the Ministry of Defence's procurement of military jackets. Ukrainian investigative journalists reported that the materials were purchased at a price three times higher than normal and that instead of winter jackets, summer ones were ordered. In the customs documents from the supplier, the jackets were priced at $29 per unit, but the Ministry of Defense paid $86 per unit. Reznikov denied the allegations during a news conference last week. ADVERTISEMENT Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov attends an in-person Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, southwestern Germany, on April 21, 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sep. 3, 2023, that he will be replacing Reznikov with Crimean Tatar lawmaker Rustem Umerov. Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov attends an in-person Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, southwestern Germany, on April 21, 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sep. 3, 2023, that he will be replacing Reznikov with Crimean Tatar lawmaker Rustem Umerov.ANDRE PAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters in Delaware on Sunday that he's aware Zelenskyy had replaced his defense chief. Asked if he had any comment, Biden said, "not publicly." Zelenskyy's announcement came after two people were hospitalized following a 3½-hour Russian drone barrage on a port in Ukraine's Odesa region on Sunday, officials said. The attack on the Reni seaport comes a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the resumption of food shipments from Ukraine under a Black Sea grain agreement that Moscow broke off from in July. Russian forces fired 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones along the Danube River in the early hours of Sunday, 22 of which were shot down by air defenses, the Ukrainian air force said on Telegram. ADVERTISEMENT Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, described the assault as part of a Russian drive "to provoke a food crisis and hunger in the world." Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement that the attack was aimed at fuel storage facilities used to supply military equipment. Putin and Erdogan’s long-awaited meeting is due to take place in Sochi on Russia’s southwest coast on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talk to each other during their meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021. Erdogan will meet with Putin on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023 in a bid to persuade the Russian leader to rejoin the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow broke off from in July. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talk to each other during their meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021. Erdogan will meet with Putin on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023 in a bid to persuade the Russian leader to rejoin the Black Sea grain deal that Moscow broke off from in July. VLADIMIR SMIRNOV, SPUTNIK, KREMLIN POOL PHOTO VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS Turkish officials have confirmed that the pair will discuss renewing the Black Sea grain initiative, which the Kremlin pulled out of six weeks ago. ADVERTISEMENT The deal — brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022