Mykhailo Fedorov

Zelenskyy removed Fedorov on 15 July after a meeting with military leadership. Fedorov blamed a lasting feud with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

The sacking did not settle that feud in the general's FAVOUR. Protests began in Kyiv on 16 July and spread to eight cities, with crowds chanting "Syrsky out" and demanding Fedorov's return. On 21 July Zelenskyy dismissed Syrskyi too and named Mykhailo Drapatyi in his place; the chief of the general staff followed a day later. Yevhen Khmara took over the ministry and was confirmed by Parliament on 19 August. Fedorov left office as the man whose exit started the purge, not as its main casualty.

On 18 August, the day before Parliament confirmed his successor by 312 votes to two, Fedorov called for a legal mechanism to hold elections during the war. Ukrainian law bars a vote under martial law.

The position put him at odds with most voters: a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology poll dated 5 August found 57% wanted elections only after the fighting stops. It also anticipated pressure from Washington. When Donald Trump said on 10 October that Ukraine needed a new leader, Zelenskyy offered elections after a 60-day total ceasefire, a condition Fedorov's proposal would have removed.

As defence minister, Fedorov co-signed a €4bn package with Germany in Berlin on 14 April 2026. Its centrepiece was a roughly €3.2bn Raytheon contract for several hundred GEM-T Patriot interceptors, bought as a direct commercial sale outside the US foreign military sales queue.

The deal showed the limits he worked within. GEM-T stops drones and Cruise Missiles, not ballistic missiles, while a White House export suspension had frozen PAC-3 MSE, the round that stops Iskanders and Kinzhals. Fedorov's ministry bought what Ukraine could legally receive, routing the purchase around the US export queue.