KYIV (TIP): There couldn’t be a worse moment for an internal brawl in Ukraine. Instead of discussing how to maintain the wartime initiative it has enjoyed over Russia this year, Kyiv is fuming over President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to oust 35-year-old tech prodigy and reformer Mykhailo Fedorov, who is admired by Ukraine’s partners and people, as defense minister.
The reason: Fedorov’s acrimonious relationship with Ukraine’s Army Commander Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, which spilled into public view during a series of briefings Thursday that highlighted tensions in Zelenskyy’s top team.
“Those two could not work together. A wartime president must not face such choices, honestly. I want unity, but the sides did not find it. I respect both,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday, July 16.
“They even refused to sit at the same table without me,” he added. “I had to make a choice.”
That decision, to get rid of Fedorov, who in his six months in office has made changes in the army, shocked many prominent Ukrainian service members and watchdogs — and surprised the country’s foreign partners.
Ukrainians held another so-called cardboard protest on Thursday to demand that Zelenskyy return Fedorov to the ministry. In the evening Zelenskyy announced that spy chief Yevhenii Khmara, who is acting head of Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency, will fill the vacancy — but only in an acting capacity until he can formally resign from the military to take up the civilian role. Fedorov said Syrskyi had forced Zelenskyy to push him out, although Fedorov himself has reportedly been urging Syrskyi’s removal for some time.
The general, whose nickname is “Butcher,” is seen by some as a Soviet-style leader who rewards loyalists and discourages field commanders from showing initiative.
“When the president said he has no plans to fire [Syrskyi], I accepted and was ready to learn how to work with him, because we both have one goal — to serve the Ukrainian people. But what we faced was that all our initiatives were blocked. Syrskyi was not ready to openly discuss problems, but was instead plotting against us and finally set an ultimatum for me to be out,” Fedorov said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday, July 16.
“Instead of figuring out how to asymmetrically defeat Russia, which is the task of the commander-in-chief, he figured out how to split the country,” Fedorov added.
He did praise Syrskyi’s military talent but said the general wants to keep fighting an outdated style of conflict, while war is rapidly changing and becoming more technological.
Syrskyi responded by saying it’s only because of his past successes, such as in the battle for Kyiv in 2022, that Fedorov can now speak freely in the Ukrainian capital.
“We managed to defend our capital, and now briefings can be held in this city, visions can be formed, decisions can be made. I will make every effort to ensure that similar events can take place in a free and independent Ukraine. To do this, we need to focus on the war and on an effective strategy that is now demonstrating concrete results,” Syrskyi said in a social media post.
Serhii Koretskyi Appointed As Ukraine’s Prime Minister
Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday approved Serhii Koretskyi as the country’s new prime minister, in the latest government reshuffle.During a parliamentary session in the Verkhovna Rada, a total of 289 deputies voted to support Koretskyi’s candidacy for the post, which was vacated by Yulia Svyrydenko who resigned after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced plans to replace the Cabinet over the weekend.
Svyrydenko’s resignation was supported by the parliament in a vote on Tuesday, triggering the resignation of the entire Cabinet under Ukrainian law.
According to parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, Zelenskyy submitted Koretskyi’s nomination for prime minister to the Verkhovna Rada later that day.
Koretskyi had been serving as CEO of Naftogaz, Ukraine’snational oil and gas company, since May 2025.
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