“Instead of Figuring Out How to Defeat Russia, He Figured Out How to Divide the Country”

Outgoing Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov met with journalists in Kyiv on July 16 and explained the reasons for his departure. He said he had worked on the president’s team since 2019 and was the last remaining minister from the first government. Over those seven years, Fedorov stressed, he had not pursued a political career of his own, had never let Zelensky down and had never been implicated in corruption.

When he arrived at the Defense Ministry, Fedorov said, he found an army in which “no one is accountable for anything”—commanders are constantly replaced, those deemed disloyal are isolated and major projects are blocked. In response, he proposed sweeping personnel changes—the dismissal of Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov. Without such changes, Fedorov believes, Ukraine cannot defeat Russia “asymmetrically and with minimal losses”. The president replied that he had no intention of dismissing Syrskyi, at which point the minister said he agreed to “learn to work” with the commander-in-chief.

Fedorov said, however, that Syrskyi proved unwilling to discuss problems and “engages in intrigue.” According to the minister, the commander-in-chief issued an ultimatum—“either him or me.” “Instead of devising a way to defeat Russia, he devised a way to divide the country,” Fedorov said. He nevertheless acknowledged that Syrskyi “saved the country” in 2022, but argued that the war had changed completely and the army had to change with it.

Fedorov also said Zelensky had offered him a position as a presidential adviser, but he declined.

The minister said the protests sweeping Ukraine were not about him personally. People took to the streets “not for a particular minister named Fedorov, but for themselves,” he said. Ukraine had seized the initiative on the battlefield and in the skies, Fedorov argued, but now “that trajectory is being broken”—which, in his view, is why the public is protesting.