Protests erupt across Ukraine against removal of defence minister
Ukraine's Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov speaks during a press conference after a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group during a NATO Defence Ministers meeting at the NATO headquarters, in Brussels, on June 18, 2026. Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on July 15, 2026 he was resigning as part of President Volodymyr Zelensky's cabinet reshuffle. (Photos by AFP)
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KYIV — Large protests erupted in several Ukrainian cities on Thursday morning against the removal of popular Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
AFP reporters in Kyiv saw more than a thousand people gathered on a central square, singing the Ukrainian national anthem, waving Ukrainian and EU flags and chanting "shame" and "bring Fedorov back.
Only appointed six months ago, Fedorov carved a reputation as a moderniser who tried to reform the Ukrainian military, worn down by more than four years of the Russian invasion.
His removal risks throwing uncertainty into the army at a time when Ukraine is in one of its best positions in the war for months, having halted the pace of the Russian advance and pounding Russian oil and military sites with long-range drones.
No official reason was given for the decision, which protesters saw as part of infighting inside Ukraine's military establishment between Fedorov and commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky.
"I believe that his dismissal is a slap in the face of the Ukrainian people," Vlada Roman, a 30-year-old business owner, told AFP.
She said she hoped Zelensky would row back on the decision, saying he was "afraid of effective people."
Protesters chant slogans and wave a Ukranian national flag as they take part in a demonstration against Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky's decision to dismiss Ukraine's Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, in Kyiv on July 16, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"After today's rally he'll change his mind, I hope so."
Local media reported protests in several other cities, including Lviv, Odesa and Dnipro.
Zelensky has not named a successor in a host of changes that have also seen the prime minister removed.
The deputy commander of Ukraine's air force, Pavlo Yelizarov, also resigned in protest at Fedorov's removal.
"It is a great honor for me to work with Mykhailo Fedorov. In 2022, I joined the defence forces to win, not to pretend to be doing something," he said in his resignation statement.