Zelenskyy Pressured to Reinstate Sacked Defence Minister
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Zelenskyy came under mounting pressure to reinstate Mykhailo Fedorov as defence minister after campaigners pledged indefinite nationwide protests, with prominent veteran Dmytro Koziatynsky announcing a rally for Friday evening outside the presidential office in Kyiv's Ivana Franka Square.
- Fedorov rejected Zelenskyy's offer of the deputy prime minister post for technological development and is insisting on being reinstated as defence minister to push through his army modernization agenda, while special forces commander Yevhenii Khmara was installed as acting minister.
- Mykhailo Drapatyi replaced Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, receiving instructions from Zelenskyy to "intensify offensive operations in all domains," while major general Ihor Skybiuk took over as head of the general staff from Andrii Hnatov.
- Syrskyi defended his record in a valedictory post, citing 700 sq km of Ukrainian territory retaken this year and the creation of the world's first separate drone branch of the armed forces, before departing in the radical top-command reshuffle.
- Ukrainian drones struck warehouses belonging to Russian online retailer Wildberries overnight, sparking large fires in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk as part of an ongoing campaign to cripple the Russian economy funding the war.
- The crisis was triggered by a generational clash between 35-year-old tech-savvy moderniser Fedorov and 60-year-old Soviet-trained Syrskyi, with Zelenskyy saying he tried to mediate before firing Fedorov as a last resort.
Why it matters: Zelenskyy is boxed in by public anger during an active war: reversing course on Fedorov would be humiliating and reveal presidential weakness, but refusing risks an indefinite protest movement that deepens the political crisis at a moment when Ukraine is expanding offensive operations — including overnight Wildberries strikes on Russian soil — and bracing for a possible Russian mobilisation after Putin's September elections.
