Protesters chant slogans and wave a Ukranian national flag as they take part in a demonstration against Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to dismiss Ukraine’s Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, in Kyiv on July 16, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Tetiana Dzhafarova | Afp | Getty Images
Ukrainian protesters took to the streets of Kyiv on Thursday, decrying President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s surprise decision to dismiss Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov as part of a major government reshuffle.
More than a thousand people were seen taking part in a rally in Kyiv’s central square, waving Ukrainian and European Union flags and reportedly chanting “shame” and “bring Fedorov back.” CNBC could not independently verify the report.
The protest comes shortly after Fedorov, who was seen as a popular figure and an advocate of Ukraine’s drone warfare, confirmed his dismissal on Wednesday in a social media post, saying it had been a “great honor to serve the Ukrainian people.”
Fedorov listed what he considered several of his team’s achievements during his six months in post, including the shutdown of Starlink systems for Russian forces, the isolation of occupied Crimea, and “an unpopular but extremely important transformation of the army.”
The move followed a decision by Ukraine’s parliament to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko after just a year in office.
Serhiy Koretsky, the current CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Naftogaz, has been nominated as the country’s next prime minister, Ukraine’s parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said Wednesday.
Zelenskyy nominated Koretsky for the role, Stefanchuk said via Facebook, with Ukraine’s president having previously described preparing for winter and bolstering efforts to secure a ceasefire as immediate government priorities.
Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a war veteran who was a leading organizer of nationwide protests last summer, had said Wednesday via social media that “it’s no longer possible to tolerate what’s happening with our government.”
“I call on all caring people to come out tomorrow at 9:01 a.m. to Franko Square and show the president that we are against constant reshuffles in the government and replacing effective ministers with convenient opportunists,” Koziatynskyi said on X, according to a translation.
Daria Kaleniuk, co-founder and executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a prominent watchdog based in Kyiv, said she planned to join the protest, according to a report from The Kyiv Independent.
Having boosted drone production and capabilities in four years of war, Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and military assets, targeting high-profile oil refineries in major cities as part of a sustained push to raise the economic cost of Russia’s conflict and weaken Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
Defense experts and strategists have described its drone campaign as pivotal in helping to stall Russia’s military momentum, while also warning that Kyiv’s deep-strike successes have drastically raised the risk of escalation.
Mark Rutte (R), Secretary General of NATO, and Mykhailo Fedorov (L), Minister of Defence of Ukraine, walk to a joint meeting on February 12, 2026 in Brussels, Belgium.
Global Images Ukraine | Global Images Ukraine | Getty Images
In an announcement that came as a surprise to many, particularly given that the country appears to have turned the tide in the war in recent months, Zelenskyy announced Sunday that “Ukraine is changing its political strategy.”
The president said each priority area of foreign policy would be assigned to a specific person “with substantial experience who is capable of implementing what we agree on at the leaders’ level and what the Ukrainian people expect.”
The shakeup marks Ukraine’s fourth government reshuffle since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in Feb. 2022.