Zelensky’s abrupt decision to replace Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has set off a chain reaction across Ukraine’s political and civilian arenas.
In the early hours of Thursday, crowds gathered in the capital and several other cities. Protesters held up banners reading ‘Hands off Fedorov’ and ‘Stop sabotaging victory!’ while chanting ‘Shame!’; the tone was one of bewildered outrage rather than regret for the war.
By the evening, the president all‑talked a replacement name. He announced that Major‑General Yevhenii Khmara, the acting head of the Security Service, had been offered the role of acting Defence Minister. Khmara’s recent record in high‑tech counter‑measures was cited as an asset for the ministry’s future strategy.
The initial rumours that Fedorov’s exit stemmed from friction with Commander‑in‑Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi have been confirmed. Fedorov himself said that he had suggested to the president that Syrskyi and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov be replaced. The president admitted that the internal conflicts were perennial and had been “systemic” at many levels.
During a press call, Fedorov called his failure a ‘worst mistake’ of the president’s tenure, after describing the event as a split in the nation. The army’s reaction was swift: a soldier in a video said that his comrades had been killed in the war but not protected, and that Fedorov’s hands‑on approach could no longer be ignored.
Fedorov’s tenure had been marked by an emphasis on turning the ministry into a digital, competitive unit. He had founded a volunteer IT army and later a drone fundraising initiative that brought modern warfare to the front lines. Many defenders view him as a transformational minister who cut through bureaucracy.
The sudden reshuffle has now forced the parliament to confront the vacancy amid a general reshuffle that saw the former oil minister Serhiy Koretsky appointed as prime minister after Yuliia Svyrydenko’s earlier resignation.
The protests and political turmoil illustrate an undercurrent of mistrust that runs beneath Ukraine’s resolve. While the conflict continues externally, the internal fissures show no slowing down.
