LONDON, July 16. /TASS/. The dismissal of Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fyodorov has exposed a split among the military leadership and even among the parliamentary majority, the Financial Times said in a story on the country’s recent cabinet reshuffle.
As an example, the newspaper cited the decision of Deputy Air Force Commander Pavel Yelizarov to resign in protest of Fyodorov’s sacking. Sources from the ruling Servant of the People party called the atmosphere in the Verkhovna Rada explosive.
The FT says that the mass protests caused by the firing are taking place exactly one year after similar demonstrations triggered by Zelensky's failed campaign against the anti-corruption services. But then it was head of Zelensky's office Andrey Yermak who was subjected to the greatest pressure and forced to resign; now, the newspaper believes, the pressure is concentrated on Zelensky.
The FT said that representatives of the defense industry, senior officials, deputies from Zelensky's party, as well as other sources, including publicly, said that Fyodorov, who was appointed only in January, squeezed the interests of those who sought to profit from the huge military defense budget.
Another reason for Fyodorov’s removal from office was power struggle between him and the generals, including Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky.
People rallied across Ukraine on Thursday in protest of Fyodorov’s sacking. Citizens took to the streets in Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Zhitomir, Ivano-Frankovsk, Krivoy Rog, Lutsk, Lvov, Nikolayev, Odessa, Poltava, Ternopol, Kharkov, Chernigov and the Kiev-controlled city of Zaporozhye. In Kiev and Lvov, more than 1,000 people came out in protest.
Later, Zelensky instructed Acting Security Service Chairman Yegeny Khmara to serve as acting defense minister.