Hundreds of protesters gathered near the Ivan Franko National Theatre in central Kyiv on Thursday to denounce President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's surprise dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the technocrat widely credited with the drone-driven battlefield gains Ukrainian forces have logged this year. Smaller rallies followed in Lviv, Odesa and Dnipro.

The demonstrations are the loudest street backlash Zelenskyy has faced since last year's "cardboard protest" over Ukraine's anticorruption agencies. They come as parliament installed a new prime minister and prepared to vote on Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko as Fedorov's replacement, escalating the cabinet overhaul the Journal reported Monday, in which Zelenskyy said "Ukraine is changing its political strategy."

In the square

Protesters carried signs reading "Hands off Fedorov" and "Stop sabotaging victory!" and chanted "Shame!", the BBC reported. Al Jazeera reported placards reading "The Russians are celebrating." CNBC put the crowd at more than a thousand. Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a war veteran who led last summer's rallies, had told followers on X to "come out tomorrow at 9:01 a.m. to Franko Square."

Fedorov's account

At a press conference Thursday, Fedorov, 35, all but confirmed the reshuffle had been triggered by a clash with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. "When the president said he did not plan to replace Syrskyi, I... said I would learn to work with him," Fedorov said, according to the BBC, adding that "all the initiatives we proposed were blocked." He said Syrskyi had "found a way of splitting our country" instead of defeating Russia "asymmetrically."

Pavlo Yelizarov, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Air Force and a renowned drone-unit commander, resigned in protest. "I believe that the removal of M. Fedorov is a great evil for the country's defense capability," Yelizarov wrote on Facebook, CBS News reported.

Six months in

Fedorov, a former digital transformation minister, was appointed in January. He launched the "IT Army of Ukraine" volunteer cyber unit in 2022, led the Army of Drones fundraising campaign and last month vowed to "cut off" Russian-occupied Crimea with mid-range drone strikes. Parliament on Thursday also approved Naftogaz chief Serhiy Koretsky as prime minister, succeeding Yulia Svyrydenko.

The counter-view

Zelenskyy has not publicly explained the Fedorov pick, saying Wednesday only that he wanted the ministry and military leadership to "work with greater unity," Al Jazeera reported. From Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the reshuffle, telling reporters that "changes in the structure of the Kyiv regime, including personnel changes in the government, are of no fundamental importance to Russia."

Parliament was expected to confirm Klymenko as defense minister later Thursday. The square where the crowds gathered sits near the presidential office — the site of last July's cardboard protest, which Zelenskyy reversed under public pressure.