President Volodymyr Zelensky’s move to sack popular defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has drawn a fierce domestic backlash in Ukraine and raised fears it could damage the war effort and embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to oppose the decision, with media organisations pausing publication and military leaders resigning in solidarity with Fedorov.
The ousted defence minister was a rising star of Ukraine’s government, credited with leading the successful middle-strike campaign that has inflicted severe damage on Russia’s front-line logistics and weakened its hold on Crimea. He also took on corruption and vested interests within the ministry.
His removal is seen as a victory for the scandal-plagued commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s military, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, a controversial appointment who has faced criticism over his leadership style and tactics on the battlefield.
Fedorov, 35, acknowledged seeking to oust Syrskyi in his final press conference, accusing the older man of blocking his initiatives and failing to adopt a modern approach to warfare.
He also launched a scathing attack on army practices and culture, alleging that leaders were failing to take responsibility, that loyalty was prized over performance and that organisation was poor. “There are brigades that can’t even figure out how many battalions they have,” he said.
Zelensky – who also replaced prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko in a wider reshuffle and installed spy chief Yevhenii Khmara as interim defence minister – pointed to problems with mobilising recruits as a reason for sacking Fedorov.
Fedorov blasted Ukrainian military practices and culture in his final press conference as defence minister (Photo: Andriy Zhyhaylo/Oboz.ua/Global Images Ukraine/Getty)But sources close to the president told Ukrainian media he could no longer manage the tensions between two of his most senior officials, and had taken Syrskyi’s side to avoid alienating a key ally.
A Ukrainian defence source, who did not wish to be named, said that Fedorov was the driving force behind Ukraine’s recent successes on the battlefield and warned that he would be difficult to replace, both for his technical knowhow and his communication skills.
This could come back to bite Ukraine and could return the initiative to Putin.
Fedorov ’s departure was followed by resignations of other influential military figures. Pavlo Yelizarov, deputy commander of the air force and head of a leading drone unit, said the removal of the minister was a “great evil for the country’s defence capability”, one that could lead to “numerous victims and destruction in Ukraine”.
Syrskyi has been accused of tolerating brutality in the ranks and unnecessary risks to the lives of soldiers. He recently responded to allegations that arose from a Ukrainian media investigation into recruit deaths, describing the findings as “shameful” and said investigations were underway.
An editorial in the Kyiv Independent newspaper warned that the dismissal of Fedorov would have “devastating consequences for Ukraine’s war effort”.
Cars and garages burn after Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv this month (Photo: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)“For the first time since autumn 2022, Ukraine has turned the tide of Russia’s war in its favour,” it said. “In what could prove to be his most harmful decision of the war in recent years, President Volodymyr Zelensky has just chosen to dismiss the man who has been the driving force of this change in fortunes.”
John Foreman, a former British diplomat who served in Kyiv and Moscow, described the move as an “epic mistake” and a “self-made crisis” that could harm Ukraine’s international relations and raise fresh concerns over corruption.
“Zelensky has buckled to the conservative general staff and other clans to dismiss the one man who was in the process of shaking the defence ministry up. No wonder Ukrainians are dismayed,” he told The i Paper.
Ukrainian officials have also raised concerns that regular sackings and reshuffles of top ministers are having a destabilising effect on the war effort.
Thursday marked at least the fourth major reshuffle since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and the second of this year. The previous changes in January saw another defence minister, Denys Shmyhal, removed after just six months.
Critics argue Zelensky has made a habit of sacking popular figures that might challenge him, including former commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who now serves as Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK.
Zaluzhnyi is expected to campaign for the Ukrainian presidency when elections are eventually held.
“Zelensky changed the defence minister not because of the state’s interests but because of his personal political interests, because he started to feel political competition,” Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian opposition MP, told The i Paper.
Goncharenko added that he feared the frequent “change of ministers of defence and strategies benefits Russia”.
The backlash also risks becoming a crisis for Zelensky, who has enjoyed sky-high approval ratings for much of the war.
Olexiy Haran, a professor of comparative politics at the University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, said Zelensky was now under pressure over what Ukrainian society, experts and international partners saw as a “bad decision”.
In fact, perhaps the most damning judgement of the move was seen in Russia, where military analysts and pundits celebrated the decision. Kremlin-adjacent war correspondent, Alexander Kots, wrote that the reshuffle was a “sign that the enemy’s military institution is being eroded from within”.
Influential Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov said: “For ordinary Ukrainians, this is of course bad news… Meanwhile, the advancing Russian army may find itself facing fewer Ukrainian drones.”
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