Ukraine’s defense minister ousted despite successes, as Zelensky demands unity in war effort

(CNN) — Amid a sweeping government reshuffle in Ukraine, the country’s Defense Minister Mykhaylo Fedorov has lost his job despite recent military successes – sparking a public protest and discord within the armed forces.

The 35-year old Fedorov has been credited with an innovative approach to technology and recruitment but clashed with others in Ukraine’s defense establishment.

Fedorov championed Ukrainian start-up companies in developing a wide range of drones that have helped blunt Russian advances on the battlefield and inflict widespread damage on its energy infrastructure hundreds of miles inside Russia.

He was responsible for developing mid-range drones that have helped isolate Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.

Fedorov, previously Ukraine’s minister for digital transformation, had been in the job for just six months and was popular among troops for improving pay and frontline rotations. His successor will be Ukraine’s fifth defense minister since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Fedorov’s removal came as Russian missiles struck Kyiv early Thursday, with loud explosions heard in the Ukrainian capital just hours before British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was set to arrive.

Fedorov said it had been “a great honor to serve” as defense minister. The Ukrainian presidency gave no reason for the reshuffle, in which Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko also lost her job.

Why was he forced out?

But on Wednesday, Zelensky held a long meeting with Fedorov, shortly after he had said a priority was “dialog between the Army and Defense Ministry.”

“We need unity. It is our great strength,” Zelensky said. “We need the same views in our defense ministry and the army,” implying there was disagreement between Fedorov and some in the military.

Fedorov had clashed with Ukraine’s military chief, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, over priorities, according to analysts.

In a statement on Telegram, Fedorov said that during his time in office, “we procured more drones in four months than in the entire previous year,” and launched a support program for modern drone-assault units.

Ukraine’s advanced drone campaign has had a major impact on the conflict in recent months. Kyiv has sometimes launched hundreds of drones in a single night, targeting oil refineries, naval vessels and weapons, showing an increasing ability to strike deep into Russian territory.

Some of these attacks forced Moscow to suspend traffic this week through the gateway to the Black Sea, a key waterway that had for years been out of Kyiv’s reach – limiting the Kremlin’s ability to trade with the rest of the world.

Fedorov also said he had also introduced “an unpopular but extremely important transformation of the military: contracts for all personnel with fixed terms of service … and the introduction of some of the world’s highest salaries for infantry and assault troops.”

Fedorov said there was much more to be done to reform the military and procurement.

“We needed to be even more decisive in letting go of those who were holding back the change,” he said.

Pavlo Yelizarov, Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force and a renowned drone unit commander, submitted his resignation in protest at the decision, saying Fedorov’s removal was a “great evil for the country’s defense capability.”

Hundreds of people, mostly young, gathered in Kyiv Thursday to protest Fedorov’s departure. Several people CNN spoke with said it made no sense, with one noting that he was “the person who introduced the technology that allowed drones to do most of the fighting instead of people.”

The latest Russian strikes killed two people in Kyiv, including a teenager, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

The attack came ahead of Starmer’s visit to Kyiv on Thursday – one of his final international engagements before he makes way for a new UK prime minister.

Nearly five years into the conflict, the toll has been heavy for both sides. Ukraine’s advanced drone campaign has had extraordinary scale and impact, especially in the past month. Kyiv has sometimes launched hundreds of drones in a single night, targeting oil refineries, naval vessels and weapons, showing an increasing ability to strike deep into Russian territory.

Some of these attacks forced Moscow to suspend traffic this week through the gateway to the Black Sea, a key waterway that had for years been out of Kyiv’s reach – limiting the Kremlin’s ability to trade with the rest of the world.

But Ukraine is feeling the pain, too. June was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since April 2022, the United Nations said this week – an increase driven by long-range Russian missiles fired into urban residential buildings.

Zelensky has repeatedly pleaded with allies to provide more support in bolstering Ukraine’s depleted air defenses – including the tentative go-ahead from the US to manufacture its own Patriot intercepters, the only weapon that can take down some of Russia’s most advanced ballistic missiles.

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