Fedorov served as defense minister for six months before being ousted from the role this week.
Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu via Getty Images
Mykhailo Fedorov, the 35-year-old reformist who launched sweeping changes in the Ukrainian military this year, is out as the country's defense minister."It was a great honor to serve the Ukrainian people as the Minister of Defense," he wrote in a statement announcing his resignation on Wednesday. Fedorov was appointed to the role in January.The announcement came amid reports of a severe rift between him and Kyiv's top military brass, including the commander in chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who chafed under Fedorov's maverick approach to overhauling the force and procurement structures.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reshuffled his government this week, and Fedorov's name was missing from the new line-up. The president has not officially announced the minister's dismissal; however, Fedorov said at a Thursday press briefing in Kyiv that he had been pushed out. Minister of the Interior Ihor Klymenko is expected to succeed him."I had a candid conversation with the president yesterday," Fedorov told reporters. "He offered me the role of adviser or to find some other way for me to remain on the team. I declined the adviser role."The surprise decision to remove Fedorov as defense minister has been deeply unpopular in Ukraine, where soldiers and civilians alike see him as a desperately needed catalyst for reform that could swing the war in Ukraine's favor.On Thursday morning, rare wartime mass protests erupted in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and other major cities as thousands gathered to call for the decision's reversal.
