Ukrainians rallied in several cities Thursday after President Volodymyr Zelensky removed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a minister closely associated with the country’s wartime drone program and digital overhaul of state services.
Protesters in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and other cities called for Fedorov’s return, according to reports from the demonstrations. Some signs urged Ukraine to rely more heavily on drones rather than sending more people into combat. The message was blunt: a slice of the public, including younger Ukrainians and soldiers who supported Fedorov’s agenda, sees his firing as a step away from the military reforms they want.
Fedorov had previously served as digital transformation minister and became widely known for Diia, Ukraine’s government services app. Zelensky appointed him defense minister earlier this year, making him the sixth person to hold the post under Zelensky. His brief tenure put a civilian technocrat in charge of a ministry with a reputation for slow processes, procurement fights and institutional drag.
A fight over drones, procurement and command
In a Wednesday post on Telegram, Fedorov said his team had hit several goals before his removal. He said the ministry disrupted Starlink satellite internet terminals used by Russian drone operators, supported strikes against Russian logistics in occupied Crimea, and changed procurement practices in ways he said saved Ukraine billions of hryvnias.
Fedorov also claimed Ukraine bought more drones in four months under his watch than it had acquired during the previous full year. That claim has not been independently verified in the public record cited by Ukrainian officials, but it matches the role he tried to claim inside the government: more automation, faster purchasing, and less tolerance for the ministry’s old paperwork swamp.
He also said some of his main plans were unfinished. Those included reshaping the Defense Ministry around NATO practices and what he called common sense, a wider rebuild of procurement, and a stronger internal culture of accountability.
Zelensky has not publicly explained why he dismissed Fedorov. Ukrainian media outlets, citing unnamed government sources, reported that friction between Fedorov and Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi played a role.
Fedorov later confirmed at a news conference that he had urged Zelensky to replace Syrskyi, whose command style has faced criticism from some younger officers and soldiers. Fedorov said Zelensky rejected that proposal. He said he initially intended to keep working with Syrskyi, but that cooperation eventually stalled and his team’s proposals met growing resistance.
Syrskyi, in his own Telegram post, thanked Fedorov for his work and said Ukraine should keep its attention on the war and an effective strategy.
Reshuffle under wartime pressure
The dismissal landed inside a broader government shake-up by Zelensky. Civil society figures and some public officials criticized the timing and substance of replacing senior officials while Russia’s war continues.
Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday approved Sergiy Koretsky, the head of state energy company Naftogaz, as prime minister. Lawmakers also backed most cabinet nominees. Candidates for defense minister and foreign minister are expected to be sent to parliament later.
Zelensky has said Fedorov will stay on his team, but he has not announced a new job for him. For now, the government has removed the official most publicly tied to its drone-first defense modernization pitch, and the people who liked that pitch have taken their complaint to the street.
This story draws on original reporting from The Record.
