Zelenskyy Reshuffles Cabinet Amid Ukraine Defence Protests
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- Ukrainian lawmakers will vote Thursday on a new wartime government under energy executive Sergii Koretskyi, Zelenskyy's second cabinet shake-up in a year.
- The dismissal of 35-year-old Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov sparked protests of more than a thousand people outside Zelenskyy's office, chanting "Shame!" and carrying placards reading "The Russians are celebrating."
- Pavlo Yelizarov, deputy commander of Ukraine's air force and a key drone warfare leader, announced his resignation Thursday, calling Fedorov's ouster "a great evil" for Ukraine's defence.
- Under the proposed cabinet, current Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko would replace Fedorov at the defence ministry.
- Ukraine is in its best battlefield position since late 2022, striking Russia's oil sector and military logistics in drone and missile attacks — yet Kyiv's forces still face grinding Russian advances in the east amid critical troop and air defence shortages.
- NV editor Vitalii Sych wrote that "in difficult moments, Zelensky behaves like a hero" but warned "difficult moments are often caused by his idiotic decisions," echoing last July's protests that forced a reversal of an anti-corruption agency measure.
Why it matters: Zelenskyy's wartime leadership faces public fury at a precarious moment — Russian missiles are hitting Kyiv while troops grind forward in the east. An air force deputy commander resigned in protest and over a thousand citizens rallied chanting "Shame," the scene echoing last July's protests that forced a reversal.
