Zelensky dismisses Defense Minister Fedorov, deepening turmoil in Ukraine's military leadership

President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister following a meeting with military leadership

• Lawmakers told the Kyiv Independent that Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has been tapped to replace Fedorov
• Analysts and officials say the dismissal stems from conflicts between Fedorov and Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi
• Activists have called for protests in the wake of Fedorov's dismissal

President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Mykhailo Fedorov as Ukraine's defense minister as part of his administration's latest government overhaul.

The dismissal followed a meeting with military leadership on July 15, a Ukrainian official  familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent.

Fedorov then confirmed his dismissal in a social media post later in the evening, saying it was "a great honor to serve the Ukrainian people as Defense Minister."

Fedorov enumerated over 20 major accomplishments of his term, including the shutdown of Starlink systems for Russian forces, the campaign against Russian logistics in occupied Crimea, and "an unpopular but extremely important" military reform initiative.

The outgoing minister also listed three goals he was unable to achieve: fully transforming Ukraine's defense ministry "in accordance with NATO and common sense," overhauling the military procurement system, and building "a culture of accountability."  

"Thank you to each and every one of you who is defending Ukraine and working for victory," Fedorov wrote. "Thank you to my entire team for their effective service 24/7. ... I will continue to work toward the mission I came to the Defense Ministry with — to defeat the enemy through asymmetry, the speed of innovation, and the strength of our organization."

Who will replace Fedorov?

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has been offered the role of Ukraine's next defense minister, a lawmaker from the governing Servant of the People party told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.

General Klymenko led the National Police from 2019 until 2023, and was appointed interior minister following the death of his predecessor, Denys Monastyrsky. For Klymenko to take on a new role in government, the parliament must support his nomination.

Klymenko's spokesperson, Mariana Reva, told the Kyiv Independent that Klymenko was surprised by the president's proposal.

"We're waiting for the president's formal nomination. As you know, Ihor Klymenko is an officer. For him, the supreme commander-in-chief's word is an order," Reva said.

Lawmakers who spoke with the Kyiv Independent, both from the ruling party and opposition, disapproved of the potential change.

"It's bad news," a lawmaker from Zelensky's party told the Kyiv Independent.

Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko shared a similar opinion.

"I don't think it's right to replace the defense minister every six months. There are no fundamental complaints about Fedorov, and he should be allowed to finish the reforms he has already announced. Another change of defense minister — regardless of who replaces him — would simply create more chaos," Fesenko told the Kyiv Independent.

It remains unclear whether Fedorov will be appointed to another role within the Ukrainian government.

Ukraine's parliament is expected to vote on Klymenko's nomination on July 16.

Why was Fedorov dismissed?

The reasons behind the abrupt dismissal stem from conflicts between Fedorov and Ukraine's controversial Commmander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, lawmakers and analysts told the Kyiv Independent.

Zelensky unveiled cabinet nominees during a meeting with his Servant of the People faction in parliament the evening of July 15. A lawmaker present at the meeting said that many were stunned by the decision not to reappoint Fedorov as defense minister.

"It looks like a betrayal," they told the Kyiv Independent. "I think Zelensky has set a time bomb for himself since, under the law, this was his pick."

According to the lawmaker, Zelensky justified Fedorov's dismissal by citing a rift between the Defense Ministry and Ukraine's military leadership. He said the military leadership also needed to be "reset" and suggested that Syrskyi's dismissal could eventually be on the table, the source said.

"That's an absurd answer. If he thought the military leadership needed a reset as well, then why fire the defense minister?" the lawmaker told the Kyiv Independent.

According to the source, Zelensky cited draft officers and mobilization issues as another reason for Fedorov's dismissal. The lawmaker said Zelensky expects Klymenko to focus on addressing those two problems.

"We needed to be even more decisive in dismissing those who were hindering change."

The decision to oust Fedorov followed a meeting between Zelensky, Fedorov, and Syrskyi, during which they were to discuss key challenges facing Ukraine's military, including mobilization.

Asked by journalists about Fedorov's possible dismissal, Zelensky declined to comment directly, saying only that he wants Ukraine's military to be "united" and "on the same page."

"The priority is dialogue between the army and the Defense Ministry, solving the problems of (recruitment), and closing the sky," he said, while confirming the meeting.

Another lawmaker from Zelensky's Servant of the People party told the Kyiv Independent that the driving force behind the dismissal was the Syrskyi-Fedorov conflict, which "has crossed all lines."

Analysts also cited tensions between Syrskyi and Fedorov over the young minister's approach to reform.

"There is alleged friction in Fedorov's relationship with Syrskyi. Not everyone is happy with Fedorov's proposals for reforming the military, particularly his plans to overhaul the way the Defense Ministry operates," Fesenko said.

Yuriy Hudymenko, a prominent veteran and head of the Public Anti-Corruption Council at the Defense Ministry, told NV news outlet the two men approach problems from "fundamentally different perspectives" in an interview on June 17.

"This is a conflict between a young technocrat and a general from a largely post-Soviet military school," Hudymenko said.

Opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Yurchyshyn echoed that sentiment.

"Fedorov is unseated because of the conflict with Syrskyi, the old army system, and everybody who is linked with corruption in the military sphere," he told the Kyiv Independent.

"Zelensky chooses Klymenko because he has no ambition to become popular and is not going to combat post-Soviet generals. He is 100% a person who Zelensky needs in this position."

Fedorov’s unfinished reform

A relatively young and popular figure in the Ukrainian government, Fedorov previously served as minister of digital transformation from 2019 to 2026.

Fedorov's appointment as defense minister drew rare support from both Zelensky's party and the opposition. Some lawmakers from the opposition European Solidarity party previously described him as one of the few officials in Zelensky's team who maintained regular contact with the opposition.

Observers and military experts have praised Fedorov's efforts within the last six months.

Shortly after he began his tenure, he successfully persuaded SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to deny Russia usage of the highly effective Starlink satellite communications system in February 2026.

Musk had originally activated the system in response to a direct request from Fedorov in February 2022, and the two had maintained a congenial relationship in the years that followed.

Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Rob Lee, described the Russian near-total loss of Starlink as "truly game changing" in comments to the Kyiv Independent in May, saying the loss was incredibly damaging to both Russian command and control and their ability to operate long-range strike drones.

In a Facebook post following his dismissal on July 15, Fedorov listed the blocking of Starlink as the top achievement of his tenure.

More recently, Fedorov launched Ukraine's "logistics lockdown" campaign on May 27, a highly effective operation targeting Russian logistics vehicles with loitering munitions and medium-range drones.

Fedorov also launched a series of controversial military reforms in June, which received a mixed response from both serving members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, veterans' groups, and civil society.

Fedorov acknowledged that the transformation effort was "unpopular but extremely important" in his social media message. He also alluded to personnel within the defense ministry who were "hindering change."

"The new structure was launched, many people were dismissed, and numerous processes were initiated," he wrote. "But we needed to be even more decisive in dismissing those who were hindering change."

'Today our country is much further from victory'

The ousting of Fedorov — a competent, popular reformer — has provoked dismay and calls for mass demonstrations.

Veteran and activist Dmytro Koziatynskyi urged citizens to assemble in Kyiv for peaceful protests against Fedorov's dismissal and Zelensky's "constant reshuffles."

"We will never defeat Russia as long as the same total stagnation and corruption reign in our army and our ministries," he wrote in a call to action on social media.

Ukrainian journalist Sergiy Sydorenko compared Zelensky's firing of Fedorov to last year's attempted dismantling of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies — a move that provoked swift backlash, including large-scale protests and censure from European partners.

Both that disastrous decision and the latest reshuffle were "intended to secure (Zelensky's) own political future" and "had devastating consequences for trust in the state and in the president personally," Sydorenko said.

Meanwhile, Serhii Sternenko, Fedorov's adviser and prominent Ukrainian influencer, said on July 15 that he would no longer be advising the Defense Ministry. He praised his collaboration with Fedorov, who he called "the best defense minister in our entire history."

According to Sternenko, "bureaucratic obstacles and deliberate delays by those who oppose military reform" prevented Fedorov from completing his goals as defense minister.

"It's unfortunate that today our country is much further from victory," he wrote. "It's a shame that real reforms didn't even get off the ground, although we still managed to change a lot."