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Why were Kyiv's streets filling over a minister's dismissal?
Summary
A retrospective on 18 July 2026 and the protests that followed the removal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
What was behind the crowds near the Presidential Office Building in Kyiv in the days before 18 July 2026? The answer lay in the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov as Minister of Defence, a decision that had set off demonstrations in the capital and beyond.
The decision and the reaction
On 16 July 2026, protests took place in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine against President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to replace Fedorov with Major-General Yevhenii Khmara. The same day, Pavlo Yelizarov, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, resigned from his position in protest at Fedorov's removal.
On 16 July, the president also initiated the appointment of Serhii Koretskyi as prime minister, according to reports at the time.
A second day on the streets
By 17 July 2026, the protests in Kyiv had entered a second day near the Presidential Office Building. Demonstrators demanded two things: the return of Fedorov as Minister of Defence, and the resignation of Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The protesters' demands thus went beyond the single ministerial change, extending to the military leadership. The resignation of a senior Air Force officer added a further public sign of disagreement over the decision.
These developments, between 16 and 17 July 2026, formed the backdrop to 18 July 2026.
