This is a developing story and is currently being updatedPresident Volodymyr Zelensky's dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister has drawn a wave of criticism from soldiers, veterans, and civil society figures, who argue Ukraine is losing one of its most effective wartime officials without an adequate explanation.Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a war veteran who was a leading organizer of last summer's mass protests against a law curbing the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies, called for a new demonstration. "The defense minister is being removed in the middle of effective — finally effective! — reforms, replaced by someone under whom any hope of reform can be forgotten," he wrote on Facebook. He urged Ukrainians to gather at Ivan Franka Square at 9:01 — after Ukraine's daily minute of silence to honor fallen soldiers and civilians killed in the war — to protest what he called a pattern of "replacing effective ministers with convenient yes-men," adding: "We will never defeat Russia as long as the same total stagnation and corruption rule our army and our ministries."Pavlo Kazarin, a sergeant with the 104th Territorial Defense Brigade, called the decision "utterly baffling," noting that every change in the ministry's leadership has brought policymaking to a standstill for weeks or longer. Fedorov is the third person to hold the post in the past year."If there had been complaints about Fedorov's work and the ministry's effectiveness during his tenure, this reshuffle would have been understandable," Kazarin told the Kyiv Independent. "But there weren't any." He credited Fedorov's tenure with cutting off Russian forces' access to Starlink and warned that his removal would be seen as proof that "conservatism" and "the absence of reforms" are the surest way for officials to stay in power.The dismissal also prompted Serhii Sternenko, a prominent Ukrainian activist and blogger who was appointed as Fedorov's adviser on drone warfare in January, to announce he is stepping down from that role."Mykhailo Fedorov is the best Minister of Defense in our entire history," he wrote, thanking him for his "leadership and service." He pointed to unifying ground control stations for fiber-optic drones and raising individual brigades' rankings as concrete gains under Fedorov, even as "bureaucratic obstacles" blocked other reforms. "It is a shame," he added, "that today our state has become much further from victory."Bohdan, an officer in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, offered a more measured take. He said Fedorov's ministry made "certain missteps" under pressure from generals, but called him the only minister "who at least tried to reform the army" with "fresh ideas and sound principles," even if execution fell short — noting that officers had "stifled" his attempts to overhaul army personnel policy.' He said he was more troubled by reports that Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, who served in Ukraine's national police, could take over the defense ministry. "I personally do not trust the police at all, and I cannot imagine a police officer serving as the defense minister," he said. "I'm afraid it will lead to a decline."Maria Berlinska, a veteran and co-founder of the Victory Drones initiative, went further, calling the move one of Zelensky's "biggest mistakes." She said Ukraine's technological deficit against Russia has grown so severe that "ordinary good governance will no longer help," comparing the situation to advanced illness requiring specialist intervention rather than routine treatment. "The price will be the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of people," she told the Kyiv Independent. "Hundreds of thousands, if not more."