TOP HEADLINES

· Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov will be replaced by the chief of military intelligence ahead of an expected Russian offensive and following corruption scandals, a senior lawmaker said. "We are preparing decisions and negotiations that should strengthen our soldiers, give Ukraine more international support and more weapons," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address. READ MORE BELOW

· Reznikov said the reluctance of Kyiv's Western allies to send jets to war-torn Ukraine would cost it "more lives." Reznikov told reporters in Kyiv: "I am sure that we will win this war, I am sure we will liberate all the occupied territories" but without the delivery of Western jets, "it will cost us more lives." 

· A drone has exploded outside the Russian city of Kaluga, regional governor Vladislav Shapsha said, adding that no one was injured in the blast. "It has been established that the drone exploded in the air at an altitude of 50 meters in the forest near the city at five o'clock in the morning," he wrote on Telegram. The governor did not make clear the source of the drone.

· Norway's prime minister proposed that his country should provide aid to Ukraine of some 75 billion Norwegian crowns ($7.3 billion) in total over a five-year period. "We aim to secure a unified agreement on this in parliament," Labour Party Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a news conference after meeting Norwegian opposition leaders.

· Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Iraq for talks on energy and food security in view of the Ukraine conflict, an Iraqi foreign ministry spokesman said. 

· Germany's prosecutor general said his office had collected "hundreds" of pieces of evidence of war crimes by Russian forces in Ukraine, calling for an international effort to bring leaders to justice. "At the moment we are focusing on mass killings in Bucha and attacks on Ukraine's civil infrastructure," prosecutor Peter Frank told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

· The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, will visit Moscow this week, Russian state media reported. The meeting will focus on the creation of a safety zone around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Grossi said, adding that Moscow was counting on a deep and professional discussion. The Kremlin said Grossi would not meet President Vladimir Putin during his visit.

· Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said he discussed the New START nuclear arms control treaty with new U.S. ambassador Lynne Tracy last week, the Interfax news agency reported. He added that Russia was committed to the treaty but that no date had been set for new talks, citing the conflict in Ukraine.

IN DETAIL

Ukraine replaces defense minister after corruption scandal

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov will be replaced by the chief of military intelligence ahead of an expected Russian offensive and following corruption scandals, a senior lawmaker said. 

"We are preparing decisions and negotiations that should strengthen our soldiers, give Ukraine more international support and more weapons," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address.

A senior lawmaker close to Zelenskyy said 56-year-old Reznikov, one of the best-known faces of the country's war effort, would be replaced.

"Kyrylo Budanov will head the defense ministry, which is absolutely logical in wartime," said David Arakhamia, referring to the 37-year-old chief of military intelligence.

Holding the rank of major general, Budanov has headed the military intelligence since August, 2020. Reznikov will be appointed minister for strategic industries, said Arakhamia.

"War dictates personnel policies. Time and circumstances require reinforcement and regrouping," he added. "The enemy is preparing to advance. We are preparing to defend ourselves."

Reznikov was appointed defense minister in November, 2021 and has helped secure Western weapons to buttress Ukrainian forces. But his ministry has been beset by corruption scandals.

Reznikov's deputy was forced to resign in late January after the ministry was accused of signing food contracts at prices two to three times higher than current rates for basic foodstuffs.