For the fifth day in a row activists with banners and flags protest against the resignation of Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov during a rally near the monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko on July 20, 2026 in Lviv, Ukraine.
Global Images Ukraine | Global Images Ukraine | Getty Images
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has moved to fire the army chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and sought to reinstate the former defense minister within days of his dismissal.
The reshuffle comes after a week of unrest across the country and represents one of the biggest political upheavals since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
In a late-night televised speech, Zelenskyy said on Tuesday he was appointing Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new head of Ukraine’s armed forces and thanked the outgoing Syrskyi for playing a key role in the defense of Kyiv at the start of the war.
“The operation of the Defense Forces of Ukraine continues and must continue without interruption. Ukraine’s program of long-term sanctions and our medium-term strike plan will be carried out with complete precision,” said Zelenskyy, according to the translation.
Drapatyi thanked Zelenskyy and honored Syrskyi for his work to strengthen the country’s armed forces. “I will work with responsibility, focus, and honor the people who protect our country today,” Drapatyi said in his Facebook post.
The president of Ukraine also said that he held a meeting with the former Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov and offered him “a suitable leadership position that will allow him to consolidate our country’s technological capabilities and ensure their further development.”
Mark Rutte (R), Secretary General of NATO, and Mykhailo Fedorov (L), Minister of Defense of Ukraine, attend a joint meeting on February 12, 2026 in Brussels, Belgium.
Global Images Ukraine | Global Images Ukraine | Getty Images
Fedorov, considered a popular figure and advocate of Ukraine’s war, was fired last week in a dramatic move that sparked protests in several Ukrainian cities.
Those protests reached their fifth straight day on Monday, with protesters carrying placards and waving flags as part of pressure for Zelenskyy to reinstate Fedorov and fire Syrskyi.
In a letter he wrote on social media, Fedorov congratulated Drapatyi on his appointment as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“This is a breath of fresh air and a new source of hope in the struggle of free people for freedom and justice. It is a voice for change that can no longer be ignored,” Fedorov said of X.
Having ramped up drone production and capabilities over four years of war, Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and military assets, targeting oil refineries in major cities as part of an ongoing campaign to increase the economic costs of Russia’s conflict and weaken Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
Defense experts and diplomats have described Ukraine’s drone campaign as crucial to helping stop Russia’s military push, while also warning that Kiev’s breakthrough has greatly increased the risk of escalation.
