Protesters in Ukraine are demanding the dismissal of the Commander-in-Chief amid strong public dissatisfaction after the president removed a popular defense minister due to conflicts he had with the Commander-in-Chief.
Foreign news agencies reported that on Tuesday, 21 Jul 2026 GMT+7, Ukrainians continued to protest against President Volodymyr Zelensky's decision to remove Mykhailo Fedorov from the position of Minister of Defense. Protesters threatened to stage nationwide demonstrations if Fedorov was not reinstated and the Commander-in-Chief was not dismissed.
"If by Friday, 24 Jul 2026 GMT+7, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi is not removed and Fedorov is not nominated as Minister of Defense, we will begin widespread, indefinite protests," stated Dmytro Koziedynsky, a veteran soldier, on social media.
Over the past weekend, media outlets were filled with reports of meetings and discussions aimed at resolving the situation, while Zelensky consulted with ministers and generals amid rumors that General Syrskyi would be dismissed, which he himself denied.
Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of Staff at the Ukrainian Presidential Office, called for calm among Ukrainians, saying, "The situation surrounding the recent internal changes has stirred intense emotions."
"I understand the people who are expressing their stance... We have heard the voices and perspectives of society," Budanov said as protesters shouted angrily around Ivan Franko Square near the presidential office.
Many protesters direct their anger toward General Syrskyi, whom many see as embodying outdated Soviet-era military values. However, Budanov, a former army intelligence chief, warned Ukrainians not to "hate one another."
"Our enemies are closely watching every internal conflict and waiting for us to start fighting amongst ourselves," he said. "Work is underway, and results will follow."
Both Fedorov and Zelensky have tacitly acknowledged that the defense minister's replacement was due to conflicts between Fedorov and General Syrskyi.
Fedorov revealed that he had proposed to Zelensky the replacement of Syrskyi and Andriy Honatov, the Army Chief of Staff, while Zelensky admitted that the conflict between the military general staff and the Ministry of Defense is a "systemic" problem occurring at "multiple levels," and that Syrskyi and Fedorov can only work together if he mediates.
However, on Monday, General Syrskyi posted a lengthy message defending himself against critics and his record, urging readers not to focus on the reported conflict with Fedorov and expressing surprise at the notion of any conflict between them.
"I have always viewed our relationship as a professional one," he wrote on the Militarny website. "If I have offended anyone, including Mykhailo Albertovych (Fedorov), I apologize."
General Syrskyi stated that issues like military equipment contracts, procurement, and conscription, which are being criticized in the media and reduced to brief slogans on protest signs, are far more complex than most people understand.
"Decisions that involve people's lives cannot be made with just slogans," he said. "Effective work is what will win the war, not media drama."
Nevertheless, the problem for Syrskyi is that most Ukrainians, especially the younger generation, seem to believe Fedorov's view on the need for reform to win the war over that of the general himself. Above all, many see Fedorov as a driver of military innovation, gradually enhancing Ukraine's ability to counter a numerically superior enemy.
"The war is changing now, so we need new ideas and a new structure," said Tatiana Magarenko, a 44-year-old legal firm employee, during the weekend protests. "There's a saying that a small Soviet army can't defeat a large Soviet army. It's time to change our thinking and start a new kind of war."
During the six months Fedorov led the Ministry of Defense, the army achieved successive successes in pressuring Russia, which earned him recognition, even if not all the credit was his alone.
"We feel this way because we are seeing the situation change," Magarenko said. "We feel that we can do this."
In his article, Syrskyi also responded to accusations that he lacks strategic vision or fails to embrace new technology, stating, "The strangest accusation I've heard is that I don't want to fight with drones," pointing out that he was responsible for establishing a separate drone corps within the army.
However, General Syrskyi emphasized that although drones have caused the majority of Russian losses, that alone is not enough. "I cannot turn an army of millions into a drone army in just two months and say, from now on, this is how we will fight."
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Source:bbc