Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said he suggested "drastic personnel decisions," which involved replacing both Syrskyi and General Staff Chief Andrii Hnatov, both of whom are criticized by younger soldiers and commanders for their top-down, Soviet-era command culture.
A former adviser to dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has accused Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi of covering up friendly-fire incidents and the deliberate weakening of some Ukrainian brigades in the face of Russian assaults. Sternenko's livestream comes two days after Fedorov's dismissal as defense minister, a move that caused a seismic political shock in Ukraine. It also comes a day after Fedorov himself held a press conference and admitted he pushed for Syrskyi to be replaced,
Two of Ukraine's most important wartime ministries have been thrown into legal limbo following President Volodymyr Zelensky's government reshuffle, leaving the country without confirmed political leadership at both the Foreign and Defense ministries. After parliament approved the new Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi on July 16, both Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov automatically lost their posts under Ukrainian law. The usual procedure would
"We are increasing the price Russia pays for its aggression against our country and our people," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X.
Ihor Klymenko is expected to replace Rustem Umerov, who has served as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council for the past year.
The Kyiv Independent's biggest membership drive yet hit its goal, we launched a program to help other Ukrainian newsrooms diversify revenue, and our journalists appeared in The Bulwark, FAZ, RTVE, and more.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has swapped the roles of the two men overseeing Ukraine's relations with the EU.
The Kyiv Independent's coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, after eight years of aggression against Ukraine that began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and fighting in Donbas. The war has resulted in tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties and displaced millions of Ukrainians. NATO and Western allies have provided military aid to Ukraine while the conflict continues across fronts in Ukraine’s south and east.
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
