KYIV, July 16 (Reuters) - The sacking of Ukraine's popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, only six months after his appointment, prompted rare wartime protests in cities across the country on Thursday.
The tech-savvy 35-year-old reformer is the last remaining minister to have held positions in all of Zelenskiy's governments, remaining close to the president since his election in 2019. Parliament is expected to vote on Thursday on his replacement by Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko; it was not clear whether Fedorov would get another government job.
His supporters pointed to his role in turning battlefield momentum in Ukraine's favour this year, through ramping up drone purchases and a crucial intervention to cut Russian units off from Starlink internet services.
But his attempts to overhaul the sprawling defence ministry and armed forces created tensions with armed forces chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, and he has failed to tackle longtime problems around military conscription. Zelenskiy did not give a specific reason for his decision but told reporters he expected "greater unity" between the defence ministry and military leaders.
united24media.com
