Rustem Umerov | |
|---|---|
Рустем Умєров | |
.jpg) Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Secretary of theNational Security and Defence Council | |
| Assumed office 18 July 2025 | |
| President | Volodymyr Zelenskyy |
| Preceded by | Oleksandr Lytvynenko |
| 18thMinister of Defense | |
| In office 6 September 2023 – 17 July 2025 | |
| President | Volodymyr Zelenskyy |
| Prime Minister | Denys Shmyhal |
| Preceded by | Oleksii Reznikov |
| Succeeded by | Denys Shmyhal |
| Head of theState Property Fund of Ukraine | |
| In office 7 September 2022 – 5 September 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Denys Shmyhal |
| Preceded by | Dmytro Sennychenko [uk] |
| Succeeded by | Olha Pishchanska[1] |
| People's Deputy of Ukraine | |
| In office 29 August 2019 – 7 September 2022 | |
| Constituency | Holos, No. 18 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1982-04-19)19 April 1982 (age 43) Krasnogvardeysk, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party | Holos |
| Children | 3 (son, daughters).[2] |
| Education | National Academy of Management Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute |
Rustem Enverovych Umerov (Ukrainian:Рустем Енверович Умєров,Crimean Tatar:Rüstem Enver oğlu Ümerov; born 19 April 1982) is a Ukrainian politician, businessman, investor, philanthropist and has served as theSecretary of theNational Security and Defence Council since 18 July 2025. Previously, he has served as theMinister of Defence of Ukraine from 2023 to 2025. He is also a member of theHeadquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
Umerov is a former deputy head of the permanent delegation to theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,[3] a delegate of theQurultay of the Crimean Tatar People, and an adviser to formerMejlis of the Crimean Tatar People chairMustafa Dzhemilev. Since December 2020, Umerov has also co-chaired theCrimea Platform diplomatic initiative. In September 2023, amidst theRussian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy named Umerov to replaceOleksii Reznikov as defense minister of Ukraine.[4]
Umerov was born in 1982 inBulungʻur (then known as Krasnogvardeysk),Samarkand, in theUzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. His father, Enver Umerov, was anengineering technologist, while his mother, Meryem Umerova, was achemical engineer. Umerov's family,Crimean TatarMuslims originating fromAlushta in theCrimean peninsula, anoblast of the Russian SFSR at the time, weredeported on 18 May 1944 to the Uzbek SSR.[5] After 50 years of exile and the beginning of Crimean Tatar repatriation during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Umerov family returned to their homeland in Crimea,which had since become part of theUkrainian SSR, in 1989.[5]
While attending high school, Umerov participated in theFuture Leaders Exchange program funded by theU.S. Department of State. As an exchange student, he lived in a host family and attended an American school for one academic year.[6] Umerov received a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in finance from theNational Academy of Management.[7]
In 2013, with his brotherAslan Ömer Qırımlı [uk], Umerov founded the investment company ASTEM and its ASTEM Foundation.[8][self-published source] ASTEM manages investments in the fields of telecommunication,information technology, andinfrastructure, mainly communication towers andfiber-optic networks.
The foundation fundedStanford University's Ukrainian Emerging Leaders program.[9]
Since 2019, Umerov has been aPeople's Deputy of Ukraine from theHolos political party.[10] In September 2022, theVerkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian parliament) appointed him as the head ofState Property Fund of Ukraine.
Umerov is the President's Advisory Council Commissioner for Ukraine's Interaction with Arab and Muslim States. Following the February2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Umerov joined Ukraine's negotiation team with Russia in February 2022.
On 3 September 2023, Umerov was nominated by Ukrainian presidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy to replaceOleksii Reznikov as theMinister of Defence of Ukraine.[11] Umerov was confirmed as the new Minister of Defense by the Verkhovna Rada on 6 September.[12] The day before the Verkhovna Rada had formally accepted his resignation as the head of the State Property Fund.[13]
In the July2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election, Umerov was elected a People's Deputy of Ukraine from the Holos party.[14] He has co-authored almost 100 bills,[15] drafted a statement by the Verkhovna Rada on the illegitimacy of Russia's vote on amendments to theannexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation,[16] and introduced a bill on the abolition of the Crimean free economic zone.[17]
Umerov helped spearhead the construction of 1,000 apartments for internally-displaced Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainian citizens with Turkish support.[18] In early April 2021, Zelenskyy and Turkish presidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed to begin building the apartments. UkrainianMinister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Oleksii Reznikov and TurkishMinister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate ChangeMurat Kurum signed an agreement in which Turkey would build 500 apartments: 200 inMykolaiv, 200 inKherson, and 100 inKyiv.[19]
In May 2020, he co-authored a bill on the payment of hospital bills to physicians because ofCOVID-19, regardless of length of service and at 100 percent of the average salary.[20] In September 2020, Umerov and other deputies initiated a resolution on the redistribution of money from the Fund to Fight COVID-19 to ensure safe education during quarantine.[21]
He co-authored a bill establishing a procedure for recognizing stateless persons. The law, allowing such persons to legally remain in Ukraine and obtain a document certifying their identity and status,[22] took effect on 18 July 2020. Umerov collaborated on a bill exempting internally-displaced persons fromtourist tax for living in temporary accommodations[23] that was signed into law on 12 October 2020.
In April 2021, Umerov stated that Ukraine would notsupply water through theNorth Crimean Canal to Crimea while Russian occupation continued. Umerov said that because Russia has violated international law, it is responsible for the humanitarian needs of the Crimean people.[24][25]
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Umerov was deputy head of the permanent delegation to theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).[10][3] He co-chaired the groups for inter-parliamentary relations with Saudi Arabia and Turkey.[26] In May 2020, he appealed to theUN, theEuropean Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, theOSCE,NATO, and theOrganization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation to honor victims of the Crimean Tatar genocide and condemn Russia's violations of their rights and freedoms.[27]
In January 2021, as part of a delegation to the PACE winter session, Umerov raised the issue of violation of the rights of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars in Crimea by the Russian occupiers. Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, due to their ethnic affiliation and Ukrainian position, are subject to inspection by the occupation administration, which results in repression and illegal imprisonment.Ethnic profiling results in the failure to provide medical care to Russian political hostages.[28]
Umerov raised the issue of allegedly compulsory vaccination by Russia of Ukrainian citizens in Crimea with itsSputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
He met with international partners to inform them about the alleged systemic human-rights violations, including those against Crimean Tatars in Crimea.[29][30][31]
According to a source close to Ukraine's security forces, Umerov established good relations withTurkey's foreign ministerHakan Fidan. In May 2023, he accompaniedUkrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy during his visit to Saudi Arabia and contributed to Zelenskyy's participation in the2023 Arab League summit in Jeddah. He is one of the most active supporters ofPresident Zelenskyy's "peace formula" on international forums and is expected to promote the Ukrainian "peace formula" in neutral countries of theGlobal South, especially in the Arab world, Africa and Asia.[32] In August 2023, he attended an international summit in Saudi Arabia on the war in Ukraine.[33]
Umerov facilitated the 2017 release of two Russianpolitical prisoners, Crimean TatarsAhtem Chiygoz andİlmi Ümerov.[34] In 2020, he established an interdepartmental coordination center focused on the release of Ukrainian political prisoners.[35] In March 2020, Umerov initiated parliamentary hearings on the de-occupation and reintegration of Crimea andSevastopol in March of that year to develop a strategic document on the return of the region to Ukraine.[36]
Umerov communicates with Ukrainian authorities on exchanges of Crimean political prisoners and prisoners of war.[37] In July 2020, he drafted a statement by theVerkhovna Rada on the illegitimacy of an all-Russian vote on amendments to theConstitution of the Russian Federation concerning Crimean territory.[38] The statement was supported by 306 deputies.[39] In September of that year, Umerov joined a group developing a state strategy for the de-occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol, supported by the parliamentary Human Rights Committee.[40]
TheCrimea Platform was established by the Verkhovna Rada in December 2020. Umerov was elected co-chair withMustafa Dzhemilev,Ahtem Chiygoz,Yelyzaveta Yasko, andVadym Halaichuk [uk]. Its purposes are to implement a parliamentary track for Crimea, and to create an inter-parliamentary assembly to advocate the restoration of control of portions of theBlack andAzov Seas.[41][42]
The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Turkey,Moldova, andSlovakia agreed to participate in the initiative,[43] which is drafting about 20 bills about the peninsula's indigenous peoples, the status of Crimean Tatars, andConstitutional amendments concerning Crimea.[44]
He drafted a parliamentary appeal to the UN and other bodies condemning the occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol, violations of human rights and freedoms, and calling for the release of Ukrainian political prisoners.[45]
Umerov has participated in student, public and charitable events, individually and as part of organizations, since 1999.[46] He was a 2007 founder of the Crimean Tatars Fellowship, which focuses on the representation of Crimean Tatars in Ukraine and dialogue within the community in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.[47] Umerov co-founded the international organization Bizim Qırım that year, which aimed to preserve national interests and promote the rights of the Crimean Tatars.[48]
He was co-founder and president of the Crimean Development Fund from 2011 to 2013.[49][50] Umerov became a co-founder and board member of the Crimean International Business Association in 2012.[51] Among the association's goals were to develop the Crimean economy.[52] Umerov's family funded the restoration of the 17th-centuryOrta Cami Mosque inBakhchysarai[53] to regain Crimea's cultural and historical heritage. The reconstructed mosque, which had been inactive for about 95 years, reopened on 16 August 2013.[54]
In 2013, Umerov co-founded the ASTEM Foundation to improve public life via social innovation, regional communities, education, medicine, sports, culture, human rights, and religious freedom. It sponsored the Ukrainian Emerging Leaders program atStanford University,[9] which was designed to train Ukrainian leaders in skills to solve development problems.[55] Umerov co-founded the Evkaf Foundation in 2014 to help develop Muslim communities.[56] TheUkrainian Navy tugboatYañı Qapu, damaged by the Russian military during the November 2018Kerch Strait incident, was repaired in May 2020 with ASTEM Foundation support.[57]
Umerov is a co-founder and board member of the Crimean National Welfare Fund.[18] Among the fund's projects is construction of a Crimean Tatar cultural and educational complex in Kyiv with Turkish support. The complex will be a public, cultural, social, educational, and spiritual center for Crimean Tatars and Ukrainian Muslims. A mosque and spiritual center, an ethnographic center with a national museum and conference hall, schools, restaurants, and a recreation area are planned.[58]
Umerov was present at the March2022 Russia–Ukraine peace negotiations after theRussian invasion of Ukraine. According toMeduza website, Umerov was accused by theKremlin of spying for the US and deliberately prolonging negotiations to benefit Ukraine.[59] It was reported on 28 March that Umerov, Russian billionaireRoman Abramovich, and another lawmaker developed symptoms consistent with poisoning after the event, including "red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their hands and faces".[60] The three negotiators flew toIstanbul to receive medical attention.[60] Umerov later stated that he was "fine", and asked people not to trust "unverified information".[61][62][63]
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On 3 September 2023, Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he planned to replace incumbent minister of defense,Oleksii Reznikov with Umerov, as Reznikov would resign later that day.[64] Umerov would be confirmed as the new Minister of Defense by theVerkhovna Rada on 6 September.[12]
On 28 January 2025, theNational Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine launched a "pre-trial investigation" into Umerov over his dismissal of Marina Bezrukova as director of the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) and his appointment of Arsen Zhumadilov to replace her, citing a complaint from theAnti-Corruption Action Center and the appointment being made despite the DPA's decision to extend Bezrukova's tenure.[65]
On 18 July 2025, Zelenskyy appointed Umerov as secretary of theNational Security and Defense Council as part of a government reshuffle.[66]
On 3 December 2024, Minister of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umerov was summoned to theVerkhovna Rada in connection with controversies surrounding defence procurement, including the purchase of dysfunctionalmortar rounds.[67]
On 24 January 2025, Umerov declined to approve a decision of the Supervisory Board of the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) to extend the contract of its director, Marina Bezrukova, for another year.[68][69][70][71] He also dismissed two members of the Supervisory Board who had supported the extension:Taras Chmut, director of theCome Back Alive foundation, and former Deputy Minister of DefenseYuriy Dzhygyr.[72]
On 25 January 2025, theAnti-Corruption Action Center submitted a statement to theNational Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) alleging abuse of office by Umerov in connection with the DPA leadership dispute. On 27 January, NABU registered proceedings against Umerov on suspicion of abuse of power.[73][74]
On 18 September 2025, the Anti-Corruption Action Center published a report stating that Umerov's family owned eight luxury properties in the US, but that he had only declared one of them. In a statement, theNational Security and Defense Council of Ukraine pointed out that information about Umerov's family was sensitive due to his position. Umerov's office stated that the purchases made by Umerov's brothers and parents were independent of Umerov and that five of the properties were not used by Umerov's immediate family. The Anti-Corruption Action Center nevertheless called for further investigation.[75][76]
Umerov is aMuslim, and ofCrimean Tatar origin.[10][77] He is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, English and Turkish. He also has elementary proficiency in Arabic and Crimean Tatar.[citation needed]
Ukraine:
Order of Merit, 3rd class (23 August 2021)[78]{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)| Prime Minister | |
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