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'We were finally seeing changes' — Ukrainian soldiers, veterans condemn Zelensky’s dismissal of Fedorov
"It's demoralizing," former soldier Bohdan said as he stood amid thousands of others in Kyiv on July 16 protesting outside the President's Office against the dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. "People had hope that reforms were coming, that things were finally changing for the better. They were already beginning to happen. Now it feels like everything is going back to the way it was," the 29-year-old told the Kyiv Independent. President Volodymyr Zelensky's decision a day earlier

Zelensky says he appoints acting SBU chief Yevhen Khmara acting defense minister
Khmara previously led the agency's Alpha Special Operations Center, which has played a key role in Ukraine's long-range strike campaign against Russia. He has largely stayed out of the public eye.

Iermolaiev accuses Ukrainian intelligence officers of trying to kill him in Monaco
The Ukrainian authorities said that a HUR employee had been charged with murdering Anastasia Berezovska, a suspect in the murder attempt on Iermolaiev. The employee has also been investigated as a suspect in the attempted assassination of Iermolaiev, they said.

Editorial: By sacking Fedorov, Zelensky risks turning tide of war back in Russia's favor
President Volodymyr Zelensky's decision to oust popular Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov after just six months on the job could prove to be his most harmful decision of the war in recent years.

Ukrainian parliament appoints new Cabinet, delays decision on defense minister
The Cabinet's appointment was marred by controversy over the dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who was widely seen as highly effective, with Zelensky's decision to fire him triggering nationwide protests on July 16.

Ukraine's Omega special forces say drone strike hit Russian Su-24 bomber in occupied Crimea
The Su-24M is a modernized version of Sukhoi Su-24, Soviet-designed supersonic frontline bomber that Russia uses to carry out strike missions against Ukraine.

About Donetsk Oblast
The Kyiv Independent's news and on-the-ground reporting from Donetsk Oblast, covering 26,517 square kilometers (10,239 square miles) in Ukraine’s East with a pre-war population of approximately 4.1 million. The administrative center is Kramatorsk, as Donetsk city has remained under Russian occupation since 2014. Donetsk Oblast has been the scene of intense fighting, for example, around the cities of Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Vuhledar, as Moscow attempts to capture the entire region.
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This is a developing story and is being updated. President Volodymyr Zelensky's dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister has drawn a wave of criticism from soldiers, veterans, and civil society figures, who argue Ukraine is losing one of its most effective wartime officials without an adequate explanation. Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a war veteran who was a leading organizer of last summer's mass protests against a law curbing the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies, called fo
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