The Ukrainian protester appears typical of those gathering in Kharkiv’s central square — young and tattooed — joining thousands across the nation demanding the return of defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, dismissed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after six months amid clashes with military leadership.
Fedorov, a key architect of Ukraine’s deep-strike drone and missile campaigns targeting Russian infrastructure, has been credited with bolstering the country’s leverage through precision strikes on economic and military assets.
These operations have strengthened Ukraine’s defensive posture as it seeks to counter Russia’s prolonged aggression.
“I want our minister of defense back because I like it when I wake up and see Russian refineries on fire,” says Yulia Korniienko, a videographer at the Kharkiv protest. “With that, our victory is becoming closer, and the freedom for Ukraine is becoming closer, too.” She, like others, questions the president’s decision but hopes for a reversal.
Supporters argue Fedorov’s technology-driven approach minimizes casualties while maximizing impact. “Because Fedorov has a technological approach, he prefers to fight the war with drones, not at the cost of people’s lives,” Korniienko explains. “And he is able to provide Ukraine with all the drones needed, which can fly thousands of kilometers and destroy Russian oil facilities. That makes Russia weaker, and makes their war effort weaker.”
Protesters have given a Friday deadline to reinstate Fedorov and replace army commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, framing the dispute as a generational clash over military strategy.
Fedorov, born in 1991, is portrayed as a modernizer who advanced drone warfare and anti-corruption reforms, while critics accuse Syrskyi of embodying outdated Soviet-era practices. Dubbed “Butcher” for high casualties in Bakhmut, Syrskyi defended his record, stating, “A person who ‘does not want to fight with drones’ does not create the world’s first separate kind of troops of unmanned systems.”
Zelenskyy acknowledged public concerns, meeting with Fedorov, Syrskyi, and senior officers following the protests. Demonstrators in Kharkiv, near the Russian border, held signs calling for Fedorov’s return and Syrskyi’s removal.
Dissent spread among active-duty personnel, with drone pilots in Sloviansk expressing shock at the dismissal. “If it wasn’t for Fedorov, we wouldn’t have such a well-developed system of the drone defense,” one pilot said anonymously. Senior officers, including air force deputy commander Pavlo Yelizarov, resigned in protest, calling the move a “great evil for the country’s defense capability.”
Scott Peterson/Getty Images/The Christian Science Monitor
Ukrainians protest the dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov in Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 18, 2026. Fedorov is credited with modernizing Ukraine’s military strategy through advanced drone technology.
“There are so many people my age and even younger, now in the military and fighting for us and for our lives, for our rights,” says Vladislav Biletskyi, a software engineer in his 20s. “That’s why we are here, to support them.”
Military experts caution against oversimplifying the divide. “It’s easy to believe in a simplified dualistic picture,” says Mariia Berlinska, a war veteran and drone training advocate. “But the world is more complicated, especially during wars of this scale.”
The protests reflect a broader tension between Ukraine’s youth-driven innovation and traditional military hierarchies, as public trust in leadership faces intense scrutiny amid ongoing conflict.
