Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov accused Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky of blocking military reforms and refusing to openly address problems within the military during an emergency press briefing in Kyiv on Thursday, July 16. Fedorov, who is expected to be dismissed as defense minister in a government reshuffle pending parliamentary approval, said he never demanded that President Volodymyr Zelensky choose between him and Syrsky. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. However, he claimed cooperation with the AFU’s commander-in-chief became impossible after key initiatives were repeatedly blocked. “I did not set the condition ‘either me or Syrsky.’ The president decided not to dismiss him. I accepted that and was ready to work with this commander-in-chief. But all our initiatives began to be blocked,” Fedorov said. According to Fedorov, Syrsky was unwilling to publicly acknowledge problems inside the military and instead sought to deepen divisions. “Syrsky is not ready to speak openly about the problems. Instead of thinking about how to defeat Russia, he came up with how to split the country,” he said. Fedorov argued that Ukraine’s military leadership requires sweeping personnel changes, including replacing both the commander-in-chief and the chief of the General Staff, to give younger commanders greater influence. “We need fundamental personnel decisions. A new commander-in-chief, a new chief of the General Staff, so that our young commanders are no longer held back,” he said.