Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a ceremony marking Ukrainian Statehood Day in Kiev, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on July 15, 2026.
Tetiana Dzafarova | AFP | getty images
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has been dismissed from his post in a surprise move as President Volodymyr Zelensky made his fourth major government reshuffle since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Fedorov, who was seen as a populist and supporter of Ukraine’s drone war, confirmed his dismissal on Wednesday social media postSaying that “it was a great honor to serve the Ukrainian people.”
Fedorov listed several of his team’s accomplishments during his six-month tenure, including shutting down the Starlink system to Russian forces, secession of occupied Crimea, and “an unpopular but extremely important transformation of the military.”
The move prompted some to call for peaceful protests in Kiev on Thursday morning and came shortly after Ukraine’s parliament accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko after just a year in office.
Serhiy Koretsky, the current CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Naftogaz, has been nominated as the country’s next prime minister, Ukraine’s Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said. Said Wednesday.
Zelensky nominated Koretsky for the role, Stefanchuk said via Facebook, after Ukraine’s president had previously described winter preparations and promoting efforts to secure the ceasefire as urgent government priorities.
Dmytro Kozyatynsky, a war veteran who was a leading organizer of nationwide protests last summer, Said “It is no longer possible to tolerate what is happening to our government,” it said via social media on Wednesday.
According to a translation, Koziatinsky said on
Daria Kaleniuk, co-founder and executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a prominent Kiev-based watchdog, said she planned to join the protests, according to a report. Kyiv independent.
After boosting drone production and capabilities four years into the war, Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and military assets, targeting high-profile oil refineries in major cities as part of a sustained effort to increase Russia’s economic costs of the conflict and weaken Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
Defense experts and strategists have hailed Russia’s drone campaign as vital to helping curb its military momentum, while warning that Kiev’s deep strike successes significantly increase the risk of escalating tensions.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (right) and Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov (left) walk for a joint meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on February 12, 2026.
Global Images Ukraine | Global Images Ukraine | getty images
In an announcement that came as a surprise to many, especially given the country’s turn to war in recent months, Zelensky announced It said on Sunday that “Ukraine is changing its political strategy.”
The president said each priority area of foreign policy would be assigned to a specific person “with sufficient experience who is able to implement what we agreed upon at the leaders’ level and what the Ukrainian people expect.”