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Fedorov’s Return Demanded
Thousands of protesters gathered in central Kyiv on Friday for the ninth consecutive day, demanding that Mykhailo Fedorov be returned as defense minister and calling for the continuation of military reforms.
“Marina Martínez Madrid El exministro de Defensa de Ucrania, Mijaílo Fedorov, ha afirmado este jueves que solo volverá al Gobierno de Volodímir Zelenski si le restituye en su antiguo cargo”
The Kyiv Post said around 2,000–3,000 people gathered at Franko Square, with demonstrators chanting Fedorov’s name and repeating the rally’s main slogan: “You messed up – fix it.”
Protesters said they were satisfied with President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to remove Oleksandr Syrsky from his position as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but insisted the shake-up cannot end halfway without Fedorov’s return.
The Kyiv Post reported that the rallies began after Fedorov’s removal on July 15 and that Fedorov had served as defense minister for around seven months, during which Ukraine accelerated defense procurement reforms and expanded the use of unmanned systems.
The Kyiv Independent reported that on July 23 Fedorov rejected Zelensky’s offers and said he would return only as defense minister, after holding several meetings with Zelensky following his dismissal on July 14.
Zelensky, Rubio, and Protests
Fedorov told reporters in a statement shared with reporters that “That is why I will not accept any position other than defense minister,” after Zelensky said he had offered Fedorov alternative roles including deputy prime minister for military innovation.
The Kyiv Independent also quoted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that ending Russia's full-scale war would require “new ideas” to reach a peace agreement, after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Manila.
In Kyiv, protesters continued to press their demands after Zelensky’s reshuffle, with the Kyiv Post describing rallies that had become the longest-running demonstrations in Ukraine directly linked to a wartime personnel decision.
The Kyiv Independent said Zelensky stated that former Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and former Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov would continue working alongside Ukraine's new military leadership after their dismissals.
The Kyiv Post reported protesters also called for the dismissal of Vitaliy Kim as veterans affairs minister, a position he received days earlier, while demonstrators mocked claims they were being paid to attend by joking that they were “selling protest participation for candy.”
What’s at Stake Next
Zelensky’s reshuffle and Fedorov’s refusal to accept other posts set up a direct fight over who can shape the war effort, with the Kyiv Independent framing Fedorov’s stance around the three positions that “actually shape the course of the war: the president, the defense minister, and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
“Ukraine's biggest internal political crisis since the start of the Russian invasion has entered a new phase on Friday”
The Guardian said Zelenskyy fired Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and offered a “prominent position” to the defence minister he sacked last week, appointing Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new head of Ukraine’s armed forces.
The Guardian reported that Zelenskyy said he and Drapatyi agreed that Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks on targets in Russia such as oil refineries would continue, and that “Our programme of precision strikes will be implemented with absolute precision.”
The Kyiv Post described Fedorov’s tenure as one in which Ukraine secured the removal of Starlink access for Russian forcess operating on Ukrainian territory, and the rallies demanded that his return not be cut short.
El Mundo said protesters warned they would keep protesting indefinitely until the government responded to their main demands, and it reported that the mobilizations to demand Fedorov’s return have lasted nine days.
