A political, military, and social earthquake shakes Ukraine. Thousands of people took to the streets this Thursday in Kyiv and other cities to protest the dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, ordered by President Volodymyr Zelensky and carried out on Wednesday night. All this at a time when Ukrainian drones are causing the most damage to the Russians, placing the invaded country in the best position against the invader since 2022.
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In his first appearance, just hours after being removed, Fedorov pointed this Thursday to the head of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, as responsible for obstructing his management. He emphasized that Zelensky himself told him he will not replace the powerful general.
The gatherings against what many Ukrainians consider a wrong and unfair decision took place in other cities besides the capital, such as Kharkiv and Sumy, both heavily affected by Russian bombings. Thousands of people, according to local media, came out to express their disagreement with the unpopular dismissal with signs and banners.
Fedorov, 35, had been in office for only seven months, but in that short time he had built a good reputation both domestically and abroad. Expressions of surprise at the dismissal and messages of support for Fedorov are also spreading on social media, where some of the minister’s advisers have announced they are also stepping down.
His departure is part of a government reform undertaken last Sunday by Zelensky. That day, the president announced that Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was leaving her post. This Thursday, coinciding with the protests, Parliament — where the president’s party holds a majority — approved Zelensky’s proposal for the new head of government to be Sergii Koretskyi, until now president of Naftogaz, the giant state energy company. Koretskyi has led the company since May 2025.
“I sincerely wish him strength, wisdom, and resilience to lead the government and serve our country,” wrote Svyrydenko, the outgoing prime minister, on her social media, referring to her successor, a 48-year-old engineer with no prior political experience.
Koretskyi is the third head of government to lead the Cabinet since Russia launched the large-scale invasion of its neighboring country in February 2022, which it had partially occupied since 2014. Zelensky spent the morning meeting precisely with another recently resigned prime minister, the British Keir Starmer, whom he received in Kyiv.
The European Commission congratulated the new prime minister and hopes he will keep the process of integrating his country into the EU at the center of the government’s actions, according to a message from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Some of the messages shown at the protests criticize General Syrskyi, 60 years old. Tensions between the ministry and the army have marked Fedorov’s tenure as head of Defense. The former minister had to face the old guard of uniformed officers led by Syrskyi, who trust more in old military strategies, with his push focused on drone technology and a modern vision.
In fact, the now-dismissed minister was initially the Minister of Digital Transformation at the start of the large invasion, before becoming Deputy Prime Minister until January 2026, when Zelensky placed him at the head of Defense.
Fedorov himself, who does not mince words, publicly pointed to Syrskyi this Thursday, blaming him for hindering the ministry’s actions. He accuses him of focusing more on destabilizing the country than on defeating Russia. “All the initiatives we proposed began to be blocked,” he said during a press conference, adding that Zelensky confirmed he will not replace Syrskyi.
Fedorov, who rejected Zelensky’s offer to be one of his advisers, acknowledges the role the current head of the Armed Forces had in the Ukrainian counteroffensives of 2022 in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson, but at the same time stresses that the war has changed a lot since then. “It is necessary to clearly understand what was effective in the past and what exactly must be done now to defeat Russia,” added the main promoter of the drone war.
The young minister has played a fundamental role in modernizing the arms industry, an essential pillar of defense against the Russian invasion and of the development of both exports in that sector and crucial collaboration with other countries to continue maintaining growth. Some analysts predict that Fedorov will soon find a position in a large company outside Ukraine.
In July 2025, the capital’s streets also hosted massive demonstrations, this time after Zelensky effectively blocked the institutions that oversee corruption in the country. The president was forced to back down after several days of popular pressure.
What happened this Thursday is still far from that, but no one rules out the possibility that the movement in defense of Fedorov could spread. Meanwhile, the names of possible replacements are becoming public. The most mentioned in recent hours is the current Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko.
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