KYIV: 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 flag and placards expressing support for Fedorov, gathered in the capital for the second day running to protest the decision.
During his barely six months in office, 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.
A day after being forced to resign on Wednesday, Fedorov 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.
