Kuchma's defense minister dismissed from the post of advisor to the commander of the Armed Forces' terrorist defense

Former minister of Defense under the second president Leonid Kuchma, ex-member of the Party of Regions Oleksandr Kuzmuk was dismissed from the post of freelance advisor to the commander of the Territorial Defense Forces (TRO) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. About reported on the Facebook page of this branch of the military.

The post states that Army General Kuzmuk was appointed to this position on October 14, 2022, but on December 7, 2025, the current commander of the TRO, major general Ihor Plakhuta decided to dismiss the former official.

At the time of Kuzmuk's appointment, this branch of the military was headed by Major General Ihor Tantsiura.

Kuzmuk's release was preceded by criticism on social media. It happened after the evening of December 6, when the page of the a post appeared regarding the former official's participation in the awarding of soldiers.

The post stated that Kuzmuk, on behalf of Commander Plakhuta, presented the military with departmental awards and valuable gifts on the occasion of the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

TRO has restricted the ability to leave comments under this post, and previous posts cannot be viewed.

• Previously, Kuzmuk served as minister of defense under Kuchma (1996-2001, 2004-2005), and from 2007 to 2014 was a member of the Party of Regions. During his leadership of the Defense Ministry, the two major scandals happened: a rocket fell on a residential building in Brovary, killing three people and injuring five others, and a passenger plane was shot down during air defense exercises in Crimea, killing 78 passengers and crew.