Thousands Rally in Kyiv, Demand Return of Defense Minister

Several thousand Ukrainians demonstrated in downtown Kyiv on Friday, protesting President Volodymyr Zelensky's decision to dismiss Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who is widely credited with driving military innovation during the war with Russia.

Fedorov, who had taken over the post only in January, was dismissed as part of a surprising and poorly explained government reshuffle in mid-July. Since then, Ukrainians have been gathering outside the presidential office, demanding his reinstatement.

Zelensky initially said he had dismissed Fedorov over a serious conflict with the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi. A week later, under public pressure, he also replaced Syrskyi with Mykhailo Drapaty. Speculation later spread that Fedorov may in fact have been dismissed over his efforts to address alleged corruption within the defense ministry.

According to Reuters, Zelensky has not yet indicated that he plans to reverse his decision.

(Reuters, sak)