23 Facts About Oleksii Reznikov

Oleksii Reznikov was born on 18 June 1966 in Lviv, which was then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union.

Oleksii Reznikov's father, Yurii Reznikov was a professor, Master of Sports in Acrobatics, Provost of the Lviv State Institute of Physical Culture.

Oleksii Reznikov's mother, Olena Reznikova, was a neurologist at Lviv neuropsychiatric clinic, Master of Sports in Rhythmic Gymnastics.

From 1984 to 1986, Oleksii Reznikov served in the Soviet Air Forces, serving with the 806th Bombardment Aviation Regiment at Lutsk and Military Unit 87358 at Novohrad-Volynskyi.

Oleksii Reznikov attended Lviv University, receiving a master's degree with honours in Law in 1991.

Oleksii Reznikov established Pravis law firm, which, in 2006, merged with the law firm Magister and Partners to become Magisters.

In 2011, Magisters was subject of a friendly takeover by Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev and Partners, an international group with offices in London, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kyiv, Minsk and Washington, DC Until 3 July 2014, Oleksii Reznikov headed the Department for Disputes and served as General Counsel of Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev and Partners.

Oleksii Reznikov gained extensive experience in representing clients in the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine, the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, the Supreme Court of Ukraine, and in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

In November 2018, Oleksii Reznikov renewed his legal practice as a partner at the Asters Law Firm.

Oleksii Reznikov focuses on alternative dispute resolution including: expert determination, negotiation, facilitation, conciliation, mediation, fact-finding, early neutral evaluation, settlement conference and settlement agreements.

Oleksii Reznikov stopped his right to practice law in March 2020.

Oleksii Reznikov served as chairman of the Kyiv City Council Commission for the Restitution of the Rights of the Rehabilitated.

Oleksii Reznikov has served in multiple positions, including as head of Ukraine's National delegation in Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe from 2015 to 2016.

On 18 September 2019, President Volodymyr Zelensky authorised Oleksii Reznikov to represent Ukraine in the working political subgroup at the Trilateral Contact Group on a Donbas settlement.

On 4 March 2020, Oleksii Reznikov was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine in the Shmyhal Government.

On 1 November 2021, Oleksii Reznikov submitted his letter of resignation from the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine role.

Oleksii Reznikov was appointed as Ukraine's Minister of Defence 7 years after Russia unilaterally annexed Crimea and 7 years after the start of the War in Donbas in Eastern Ukraine.

In December 2021 Oleksii Reznikov stated that Germany had vetoed Ukraine's purchase of anti-drone rifles and anti-sniper systems via the NATO Support and Procurement Agency.

On 26 February 2022, two days after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov held a call with his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin, who on behalf of Russia's minister of defense Sergei Shoigu offered to stop the invasion if Ukraine capitulated.

In December 2022, Oleksii Reznikov falsely claimed that a new wave of Russian mobilisation would begin on 5 January 2023, but this didn't happen.

In February 2023, the head of the Servant of the People parliamentary bloc, Davyd Arakhamia, stated that Oleksii Reznikov would be replaced by Kyrylo Budanov as defence minister.

On 5 March 2023, Oleksii Reznikov stated that the Russians were losing around 500 men killed and wounded in action every day fighting for Bakhmut, saying that Russian soldiers were just "cannon fodder" in the Kremlin's "meat grinder tactics".

Oleksii Reznikov said that when he served in the Soviet Air Forces, a Bashkir was one of his closest friends.