Why was Mihailo Fedorov dismissed by Zelensky / What the former Minister of Defense says, whose dismissal brought thousands of Ukrainians to the streets

The former Minister of Defense, Mihailo Fedorov, admitted on July 16 that he insisted on replacing the commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, an initiative that President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected. At the same time, Fedorov accused the head of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrskyi, of focusing on dividing Ukraine instead of finding ways to defeat Russia, reports Ukrainska Pravda and Kyiv Independent.

At a press conference in Kyiv, Fedorov stated that he proposed "drastic personnel decisions," which aimed at replacing both Syrskyi and the Chief of the General Staff, Andrii Hnatov – both of whom are often criticized by soldiers and younger commanders for their command style, typical of the Soviet era.

"When the president said that he does not intend to replace Syrskyi, I fully supported this decision and said that I would continue to work with him, as our beneficiary is the Ukrainian people as a whole. But we found ourselves in a situation where every initiative I proposed began to be blocked. Syrskyi is not willing to discuss issues face to face. He is willing to attend in-person meetings, to get involved in intrigues, and to assume that someone ordered a media campaign against him, instead of recognizing that the problem lies in what is actually happening. This ultimately led to a situation where he practically issued an ultimatum. Instead of figuring out how to defeat Russia asymmetrically, he found a way to divide the country..." Fedorov stated.

Ukrainian media wrote that Fedorov tried to radically reform the military and air defense sectors during his six-month term before being dismissed by Zelensky on July 15.

It is worth mentioning that on Thursday morning, between 1,000 and 2,000 people gathered in Kyiv to protest against Fedorov's dismissal. Among them were soldiers and veterans who hoped that the former minister would help solve Ukraine's long-standing military problems, from mobilization to the acute personnel shortage.

Moreover, several parliamentarians and analysts said that the reasons behind Fedorov's abrupt dismissal were linked to conflicts between him and the commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.