Thousands of people turned out in Kyiv on Friday to protest Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's sacking of his popular defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov as part of a controversial reshuffle. The protesters, many of them carrying the Ukrainian flags and placards expressing support for Fedorov, gathered in the capital for the second day running to protest the decision, an AFP journalist saw. During his barely six months in the post, Fedorov repeatedly clashed with the army's top commander in his efforts to digitise and modernise an army fatigued after four years fighting off the Russian invasion. Read moreHow rivalry with a top general brought down Ukraine’s popular defence minister Fedorov A day after being forced to resign, Fedorov on Thursday accused Ukraine's commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky of dividing the country. He criticised slow bureaucracy and a lack of flexibility, questioning whether Ukraine could defeat Russia with Syrsky in charge of the army. Zelensky himself lamented that the two sides were barely on speaking terms. "A president in wartime should not have to choose in such a situation, honestly," he said. "I would very much like unity."
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