Zelensky Removed His Popular Defense Minister In an Unexpected Reshuffle. Ukrainians Took The Street To Protest

Ukrainians took the streets to protest the removal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, part of a larger government reshuffle.

CNBC detailed that over a thousand people were protesting the decision in Kyiv’s central square and calling for Fedorov to be returned to his post.

The reshuffle also includes the resignation of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko after a little over a year in office. Serhiy Koretsky, CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Naftogaz, has been nominated to the role.

Zelensky announced the reshuffle on Sunday, saying the country is “changing its political strategy.” He went on to claim that areas of foreign policy would be assigned to a person “with substantial experience who is capable of implementing what we agree on at the leaders’ level and what the Ukrainian people expect.”

Fedorov was instrumental in the development of Ukraine’s drone strategy, which has allowed Ukraine to step up attacks against Russian energy and military infrastructure and give a country an edge over Russia.

In a media briefing after his departure, Fedorov said Zelensky was forced to choose between him and Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. He claimed that it was not him who presented him with such an ultimatum. “I said then we will win with this commander-in-chief.”

“When the president said he did not plan to dismiss Syrskyi, I said that I agreed. It is his decision as supreme commander-in-chief and I would learn to work with him, because ultimately our client is the Ukrainian people, not anyone else,” Fedorov added.

Elsewhere, he claimed his plans to reform the army were met with resistance from the military’s top brass. “We ran into a complete blocking of all our initiatives,” he said, also criticizing Syrskyi, who, he said, “is not ready to speak openly, face to face, about the problems.”

“He is ready to go to meetings, weave intrigues, think that someone is organising media campaigns against him. And he issued an ultimatum,” Fedorov claimed. “Instead of thinking about how to defeat Russia asymmetrically, he figured out how to split the country,” he added.

The now former official did give Syrskyi some praise, saying he “saved our country in 2022” and “carried out several successful operations.” “But he has changed,” he added.