Ukrainians took to the streets of Kyiv on Thursday. They waved Ukrainian and European Union flags and protested the dismissal of the country’s defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Fedorov had only been in the position for six months.
This is happening as Ukraine is seeing success in slowing Russian advances on the front lines, and just after the resignation of Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko earlier this week.
To learn more, The World’s Host Marco Werman spoke with Oleksiy Sorokin, the deputy chief editor of The Kyiv Independent, who joined from the Ukrainian capital.
Marco Werman: To start with, Oleksiy, describe Fedorov’s brief tenure. What was he known for doing?
Oleksiy Sorokin: Well, Fedorov is considered to be the most successful defense minister in Ukraine’s history, probably. He initiated the blockage of Starlink for Russian troops, which had a tremendous effect on the lines. He initiated several key reforms that he didn’t have the chance to finish. One of them involved the mobilization of troops. He also spearheaded the drone industry, and Ukraine’s current middle strike campaign has largely contributed to Russian failure to advance on the front lines and also disrupted Russian logistics in the southern part of the front line. So, Fedorov is seen as a competent official, and there were absolutely no reasons except for political ones to dismiss him.
Yeah, I mean, he’d only been in the position for half a year. He’s been considered quite popular, which makes this move really puzzling.
Well, basically, the reason for his firing seemed to be that the military leadership, which is considered to be part of the old guard, Soviet-type military leadership, was sabotaging his reforms. And he publicly said after he was fired that he proposed to President Zelenskyy firing the military leadership of Ukraine, and Zelenskyy decided not to do that. And so, the conflict was out in the open, and one of the two men, either Fedorov or the head of the army, [Oleksandr] Syrskyi, had to go. And President Zelenskyy decided to [take] Syrskyi’s side.
Right. And is this something that Zelensky has come out and explained publicly?
No, unfortunately, President Zelenskyy has this tendency of not explaining his decisions, especially unpopular ones. What he does is usually doesn’t comment on them and hopes that people will forget or that the subject will change and people have other things to worry about and they will forget. And then he can continue with his plans. So, this happened multiple times in the past years. And unfortunately, we’re seeing that President Zelenskyy is continuing with this practice.
Yeah. And now we’re seeing street protests over the firing of Fedorov. What’s been the criticism from Ukrainians?
Well, again, the main problem here is that since March of this year, we see that Ukraine is finally turning the tide of the war. Ukraine is finally doing well on the front line. Ukraine is causing extreme damage to the Russian troops and to the Russian economy with deep strikes, with missile strikes. And part of this was Fedorov’s leadership in the defense ministry. So, people had confidence in how Ukraine was conducting this war, and firing a popular minister who is credited with basically giving Ukrainians hope that this war can still be won is having a detrimental effect on the population.
There has been occasional public criticism of President Zelenskyy during this war, but mostly it’s uncommon politically. What do these protests represent for him?
I would disagree with this. Obviously, for the international public, Zelenskyy is the face of Ukraine, right? He has conducted a pretty successful foreign policy. Obviously, few people would criticize how Zelenskyy is running foreign affairs, and this is true. But domestically, Zelenskyy has made some controversial and unpopular decisions, and in Ukraine, I would say that his popularity is mixed. If we would have elections, say, next week, then I would say Zelenskyy would not win Ukrainian elections. In Ukraine, there’s a lot of criticism toward the president, and this is not the first time there’s street protests against his decisions. Last time, actually last July, President Zelenskyy signed a law into force to strip anti-corruption institutions of their independence. And following street protests and also calls from Brussels, Zelenskyy overturned that decision. And so, people currently protesting hope that their presence on the streets in front of the president’s office can force the president to backtrack and reappoint Mr. Fedorov.
Who has been tapped to replace Fedorov? Does that person inspire the public in the same way he did?
The situation is as absurd as it possibly can be. The foreign minister and the defense minister are approved by parliament following a presidential nomination, and because the president today didn’t show up in parliament following the street protests, Ukraine technically doesn’t have a defense minister and doesn’t have a foreign minister. So, a country at war without a formal defense and foreign minister.
We focused on the firing of Fedorov, but does his ouster suggest something more concerning about Ukraine’s war effort? And by extension, does it raise any concerns about the cohesiveness of the government during a time of war?
The biggest problem here is that Russia has extensive manpower. Russia can continue fighting this war indefinitely. And for Ukraine to survive, Ukraine has to reform. Ukraine has to innovate. Ukraine always has to be a few steps ahead of Russia to survive. And Fedorov was the person who Ukrainians believed would do that. And right now, without this person and without the support of the public, this can have a negative effect on the front lines, but also in the rear. This can certainly question Zelenskyy’s legitimacy, and the support for the president can go down.
Parts of this interview have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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