Zelenskyy says dismissed defense chief crossed lines in Ukraine dispute over protests, spending and U.S. tension
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly sharpened his break with dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, saying some of the former minister...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly sharpened his break with dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, saying some of the former minister’s moves were wrong and had hurt Ukraine’s wartime posture. The dispute, laid out in a transcript released Sunday after a two-hour off-the-record meeting with reporters the day before, also touched on defense spending, mass protests and a tense moment involving U.S. President Donald Trump.
Zelenskyy did not soften his language. He said Fedorov’s involvement in street protests and calls for elections were misguided. Wrong move. He also pointed to what he described as inaccurate information from the Defense Ministry that fed an awkward exchange with Trump over Ukraine’s use of Starlink inside Russia.
Pressure inside a war cabinet
The comments offer a rare public window into friction at the top of Ukraine’s wartime leadership. Zelenskyy framed the disagreement as more than a personal clash. It touched the way Kyiv manages military resources, messages to allies and the political discipline expected during a grinding war.
He also alluded to questionable decisions over defense spending, without spelling out every case. The remarks suggest the former minister’s role was under strain well before his dismissal became public. For Kyiv, that matters. Foreign partners watch closely for signs of internal drift, especially when aid, weapons deliveries and battlefield credibility all depend on steady coordination.
Missile shortages and battlefield claims
Zelenskyy paired the dispute with a blunt warning about air defense. He disclosed figures showing Ukraine’s shortage of Patriot missiles, a critical shield against Russian ballistic attacks, and said deliveries from Western allies have declined over the past three years even as Russian missile strikes have intensified.
He also pointed to gains on the ground. Ukrainian forces, he said, have almost fully recaptured the Dnipropetrovsk region, with only about 10 square kilometers still under Russian control. The figure was presented as evidence that Kyiv can still press forward even under heavy pressure.
That pressure remains visible. Russian attacks on civilian industrial and logistics sites have continued, and Moscow says it is answering those strikes after what President Vladimir Putin called Ukraine’s “pandora’s box” of attacks on the Russian economy.
Kyiv marked Ukraine’s National Flag Day on Sunday with a ceremony at which Zelenskyy thanked visiting leaders from Nordic and Baltic countries. Against that backdrop, the split with Fedorov lands at a sensitive moment: Ukraine is trying to hold together military support, political unity and air defenses. Ten square kilometers. That is all, for now, that Zelenskyy says Russia still holds in Dnipropetrovsk.
