{"id":529276,"date":"2026-07-16T16:38:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/529276\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T16:38:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:38:22","slug":"protests-planned-over-fedorovs-dismissal-as-defense-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/529276\/","title":{"rendered":"Protests Planned Over Fedorov’s Dismissal as Defense Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukrainian activists are calling for protests against President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s decision to dismiss now-former Defense Minister<\/a> Mykhailo Fedorov.<\/p>\n

According to Financial Times\u2019 chief correspondent in Kyiv, Christopher Miller, a rally is planned on Thursday ahead of an expected parliamentary vote to approve a new cabinet.<\/p>\n

JOIN US ON TELEGRAM<\/p>\n

Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe organizers of last July\u2019s big demo against Zelensky\u2019s moves against the independent National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) are telling Ukrainians to meet at the same square at 9:01 a.m. Thursday,\u201d Miller wrote<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt\u2019s clear that a large segment of Ukrainian society is deeply unhappy about the president\u2019s decision, particularly because he [Zelensky] has not given a clear reason for it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lack of explanation for Fedorov\u2019s dismissal as key grievance<\/p>\n

Fedorov\u2019s dismissal comes as part of a broader cabinet reshuffle that also saw Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko dismissed<\/a>, with Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko named as Fedorov\u2019s likely successor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Reuters<\/a>, opposition lawmaker Inna Sovsun of the Holos party said she was \u201cvery frightened\u201d at the potential for new instability at the ministry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously, Denys Shmyhal was the minister for half a year, he promised something, started to fulfill it and was fired,\u201d she said, adding that \u201cif the same story repeats itself with Mykhailo Fedorov, it will not be funny at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volodymyr Fesenko, a political scientist and director at the Pento Center for Political Studies warned that firing Fedorov could disrupt important army reforms while Ukraine fights to gain the upper hand against Russia \u2013 a concern shared by opposition lawmakers, as per the same Reuters report.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Russia<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Other Topics of Interest<\/p>\n

Russia Fires 6,001 Drones, 170 Bombs as Ukraine Repels 235 Clashes<\/a><\/p>\n

Russia struck Ukraine with 2,273 shellings and 52 airstrikes as fighting continues along the front.<\/p>\n

Echoes of last year\u2019s protests<\/p>\n

The chosen venue carries symbolic weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In July 2025, thousands of Ukrainian citizens gathered near the Ivan Franko Theatre<\/a>, after the parliament voted to strip the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor\u2019s Office (SAPO) of their independence.<\/p>\n

The protest was described as one of the largest anti-government protests in Ukraine<\/a> since the beginning of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022, as the demonstrations spread to multiple cities and ultimately prompted Zelensky to restore agencies\u2019 independence within days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fedorov, who took over the Defense Ministry in January 2026 after previously serving as deputy prime minister and digital transformation minister, had already faced calls for his resignation earlier this month after a violent mobilization clash in Lviv<\/a> sparked criticism from lawmakers, including from Member of the Ukrainian Parliament Roman Kaptielov, according to UNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ukrainian activists are calling for protests against President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s decision to dismiss now-former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-529276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}