Yuri Kobzar14:34, 07.12.25

Oleksandr Kuzmuk was the longest serving head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk, during whose tenure Ukraine transferred its cruise missiles and strategic bombers to Russia , attended an awards ceremony for members of the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) on the occasion of Ukrainian Armed Forces Day. This was reported in a statement by the TDF press service .

Kuzmuk reportedly “particularly noted the courage” with which the Ukrainian army is resisting the aggressor.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces have come a long way in a historically short period. If we are resisting a monster whose forces far outnumber ours, it is solely thanks to you – all the officers, sergeants, and soldiers who fight courageously and steadfastly,” the Troops’ press service quoted Kuzmuk as saying.

Who is Alexander Kuzmuk?

Kuzmuk served as Ukraine’s Defense Ministry twice during Leonid Kuchma’s presidency—from 1996 to 2001 and then for several months from late 2004 to early 2005. He holds the record for longest tenure among Ukrainian defense ministers.

In 2007, Kuzmuk served as Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for six months.

Kuzmuk was also elected three times as a People’s Deputy of Ukraine, serving in the 4th (2002-2006), 6th (2007-2012), and 7th (2012-2014) convocations. First, as a member of the For a United Ukraine bloc, and then as a member of the Party of Regions.

In 2019, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discharged Kuzmuk from military service due to age, but retained the honorary right to wear the military uniform.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, Kuzmuk returned to military service in 2022 as an advisor to the commander of the Troops. In this position, he has already “outlived” two commanders and is currently working with a third.

Why Kuzmuk is criticized

Kuzmuk headed the Ministry of Defense at the very moment when Ukraine was disposing of the most powerful weapons it inherited from the USSR. Although nuclear weapons had been transferred to Russia before his appointment, under Kuzmuk, Ukraine was already handing over and dismantling strategic bombers. Under his leadership, the Ministry of Defense also disposed of hundreds of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, aircraft, and helicopters, not to mention other weapons.

In 2018, the Kyiv Forensic Research Institute presented a report at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada’s temporary investigative commission detailing how Ukraine had been losing its defense capability since 2014. The report stated that in just six months, from September 2004 to February 2005, when Kuzmuk briefly became Minister of Defense for a second time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces withdrew 248 MANPADS, 136 tanks, 781 infantry fighting vehicles/armored personnel carriers, 96 aircraft, and 18 helicopters.

In 2023, journalists from the “Schemes” project (Radio Liberty) established that Russia was shelling Ukraine with Kh-55 cruise missiles, which Kyiv transferred to Moscow in 1999 as part of an intergovernmental agreement to repay its gas debt. This was during Kuzmuk’s tenure as Defense Ministry chief. At that time, Ukraine transferred eight Tu-160 bombers, three Tu-95MS, and 575 Kh-55 missiles to Russia in exchange for a 275 million hryvnia gas debt write-off—an amount equal to the value of these weapons.

Journalists compared the serial numbers of the missiles transferred to Russia with those of missiles whose fragments were recovered from the sites of Russian strikes on Ukraine in 2022-23. More than a dozen matches were found.

Kuzmuk’s work in parliament was no less odious. The most scandalous episode was when, in June 2013, Kuzmuk, along with 147 other MPs (mostly from the Party of Regions and Communists), addressed a letter to the Polish Sejm calling for the Volyn tragedy to be recognized as genocide against the Polish people.

The statement sparked a wave of outrage among Ukrainian politicians and public figures. As a result, even the Polish Sejm adopted a significantly more lenient resolution commemorating the anniversary of the Volyn tragedy.

(C)UNIAN 2025