Mykhailo Fedorov spent six months as Ukraine’s defense minister before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired him in a government reshuffle. NPR reported that lawmakers, soldiers and civil society activists regarded him as one of the most effective officials of the war. He had pushed hard for sophisticated drone warfare, and his time in office coincided with a dramatic shift in Ukraine’s favor on the battlefield.
Fedorov did not go quietly. Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Thursday, he defended his ministry’s record and went after the army chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, for blocking efforts to modernize. “Instead of figuring out how to defeat Russia asymmetrically, which is the army chief’s task, he has figured out how to divide the country,” Fedorov said. “The war has completely changed. We can’t keep going on what worked back then.”
Zelenskyy’s explanation
At a Kyiv press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy acknowledged the friction between the two men. He said they could not work together unless he stood between them. “I wanted unity very much,” he said. “The sides did not find it. And that is not only their problem, but mine as well. I do not absolve myself of responsibility.”
Yevhen Khmara, who leads Ukraine’s security service, was named acting defense minister. He has been involved in the long-range strike campaigns against Russia that have hit oil refineries and depots. Zelenskyy is expected to nominate Ihor Klymenko, the interior minister and a former police general with traditional ideas, to take the post permanently. Parliament had already approved Serhii Koretskyi, a former CEO of Naftogaz, as prime minister.
Protests and resignations
Demonstrators gathered in Ukrainian cities on Thursday to demand that Zelenskyy bring Fedorov back, and the protests were expected to go on Friday. Pavlo Yelizarov, a deputy commander of Ukraine’s air force, announced on Facebook that he was stepping down in response, calling the dismissal “a great blow to the country’s defense capability.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, a lawmaker from Zelenskyy’s party, told NPR that appointing Fedorov “was one of the best decisions Zelenskyy made.” Ihor Fedirko, who leads the Ukrainian Council of Defense Industry, described him as “one of the faces of the modern and technological war” who “totally changed the rules.”
The firing came hours after Ukraine signed deals with the European Union to boost drone production. A week earlier, President Trump had agreed at NATO’s summit in Turkey to let Ukraine produce missiles for the U.S.-made Patriot system.
What Fedorov did
Before moving to defense, Fedorov led Ukraine’s digital transformation ministry. As defense minister he advocated mid-range drone strikes to disrupt Russian logistics in Crimea and other occupied territory, and he brought in reforms to make arms procurement more transparent. NPR also credited him with persuading Elon Musk to switch off Starlink terminals the Russian military was using.
In Moscow, the Kremlin played down the change. “It doesn’t make any difference who the defense minister is,” said spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who added that Moscow’s conditions for ending the war, which include Ukraine voluntarily surrendering more territory, were well known in Kyiv.
