Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the war continues:
The Ukrainian president’s controversial dismissal of his modernising defence secretary sparked a rare wartime protest against the government
www.telegraph.co.uk
"Why take your goalscorer off when you have just gone one-nil up?"
"it comes down to different visions of how to fight the war. While Fedorov is credited with “digitising” the army, the older general was said to feel that old-fashioned but still essential elements – infantry, armour, artillery – were being ignored."
...
"Volodymyr Zelensky’s substitution came on Friday, when he announced a cabinet reshuffle that included the removal of Mykhailo Fedorov, the 35-year-old minister of defence.
"Fedorov, a former digital transformation minister, had only been in post for six months, but in that time presided over a series of Ukrainian battlefield successes. His removal has been met with a sense of bewilderment, frustration and even anger.
"“It’s bad news, and it’s bad news because there’s good news on the battlefield,” said Orysia Lutsevych, the head of the Ukraine forum at Chatham House, explaining the sense of deflation felt by many Ukrainian political and military pundits.
"Such is the anger that some Ukrainians have taken to the streets for a rare wartime protest against the government.
"A crowd in Kyiv this morning waved placards reading “Hands off Fedorov” and “Stop sabotaging victory”.
".... he championed and poured resources into a drone-led middle-strike strategy that throttled Russian logistics by destroying supply lines 100km behind the frontline.
That initiative has slowed Russian advances at the front, has put its occupation of Crimea on life support and opened what many of Ukraine’s allies believe is a window to force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table."
The winning game
Kyiv starts new phase in drone campaign after attacking more than 100 enemy vessels
www.telegraph.co.uk
The campaign aims to cripple Russia’s sanctions-evasion logistics while avoiding environmental damage by disabling, rather than sinking, vessels.
www.kyivpost.com
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Why?
"Zelensky himself reportedly told MPs ... (there) was a breakdown of trust between Fedorov and general Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces and the man responsible for actual battlefield strategy.
"“Well, I cannot allow the ministry of defence and the general staff to be fighting each other while the country is at war. Ideally, both should be replaced. But I cannot do that at the same time,” Zelensky told MPs, according to one member of parliament present who spoke to media outlet Ukrainska Pravda after the meeting.
"Tensions between Fedorov and Syrsky are no secret. Sources in Kyiv confirmed that the quarrel between minister and general had become unmanageable.
"Much of it comes down to different visions of how to fight the war. While Fedorov is credited with “digitising” the army, the older general was said to feel that old-fashioned but still essential elements – infantry, armour, artillery – were being ignored.
"“They live in two different worlds. Mykhailo wants to digitalise everything and build the system around technology. The military simply wants to be heard. They ask for one type of weapon to be procured, while he refuses and funds other areas instead. They simply stopped listening to each other,” one MP quoted the president as saying."
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