On July 16 in Kyiv, Mykhailo Fedorov, who announced his resignation as Ukraine’s defense minister, held a press conference to explain his decision. The piece is a brief retelling of his remarks; according to the source, the meaning and context were preserved, although some parts may have been edited or rearranged.
Fedorov said he has worked on the president’s team since 2019 and was the last minister from the government’s first lineup still in office. He stressed that during those years he did not build an independent political career, did not let Volodymyr Zelenskyy down, and was not involved in corruption scandals.
According to Fedorov, after arriving at the Defense Ministry he found that responsibility in the army was blurred, commanders were frequently replaced, disloyal figures were isolated, and major projects were blocked. In response, he said, he proposed sweeping personnel changes, including the dismissal of Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov, if Ukraine wanted, in his words, to defeat Russia asymmetrically and with minimal losses.
When the president made clear that he did not plan to dismiss Syrskyi, I said I would learn to work with him. But in my view, he is not ready to discuss problems and instead issued an ultimatum: either me or him.
Fedorov also said Syrskyi played an important role in 2022, but that the war has since changed completely and, in his view, the system of command must change as well. He added that Zelenskyy had offered him a job as an adviser, but he declined.
Commenting on the protests, Fedorov said that, in his opinion, people were taking to the streets not for any particular minister but for themselves. He argued that Ukraine had managed to seize the initiative on the battlefield and in the sky, but that this trajectory was now beginning to break down, which he said explains the public discontent.