Thousands of Ukrainians gathered in the streets on Thursday to demonstrate against the abrupt removal of widely respected Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, only six months into his tenure. Fedorov had directed Ukraine’s strategy of slowing Russia’s invasion through deep strikes on Russian energy sites and supply routes, along with extensive drone deployment that proved decisive in shifting the battlefield momentum.
The demonstrations, held outside President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s offices in Kyiv and in several other cities, represented just the second major public protest since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. In July of last year, similar demonstrations led Zelenskyy to reconsider a plan that would have weakened anti-corruption institutions.
Analysts note that Fedorov’s reforms to streamline wartime defense procurement undermined legacy systems prone to corruption. They question why the president chose to replace his leading civilian defense official during a government reshuffle just as Ukraine began gaining an advantage in the conflict for the first time since late 2022.
The former digital transformation minister had secured Starlink agreements that denied Russian front-line forces satellite internet, constraining their drone operations. He also permitted military units to procure certain supplies directly, removing intermediaries.
He launched open tenders that he states yielded 20% to 30% savings on 160,000 mid-range strike drones used against Russian military infrastructure and logistics in Crimea. Ukraine also saved $1,000 per 155 mm artillery shell and $100 million across artillery contracts.
Zelenskyy acknowledged public concerns in a statement, saying he understood “what society is saying,” and confirmed Fedorov—a former IT specialist—would stay “part of the team” in a new role.
At a Thursday press conference, Fedorov said he had urged Zelenskyy to dismiss Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, with whom he frequently disagreed on high-tech warfare, but the president refused.
Fedorov credited Syrskyi with helping secure the country in 2022 by leading Kyiv’s defense at the start of the invasion and later the liberations of the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
“We cannot underestimate such a commander. But the war has changed completely,” Fedorov said, pointing to the rapid proliferation of drones and the fact that battlefield technologies evolve 20 to 30 times annually.
He said his initiatives began facing obstruction and that General Syrskyi “issued an ultimatum.”
“Instead of figuring out how to asymmetrically defeat Russia [with drones] … he figured out how to split the country,” Fedorov stated.
