Fedorov blamed Syrsky for the mobilisation problems
He made these remarks during a press conference.
“Who do the TCCs report to? The Army. Who does the Army report to? The Commander-in-Chief, and the General Staff deals with these matters. And policies have been drawn up — there are policies on when masks must be worn. […] Masks, because there is no accountability for attacks on the TCCs,” said Fyodorov.
According to him, the issue of mobilisation cannot be resolved without resolving other problems, since, he said, young people are currently discussing not new contracts, but “the former commander of the 155th Brigade, who committed the greatest evil that could possibly be committed during a full-scale war” and isolated incidents within assault units.
“There are a great many people in the army who can achieve far more if they are given freedom and their leadership is supported, and they will not flee the battlefield. And all this fake news that Syrskyi can hold the front line because he’s such a dictatorial, authoritarian type… […] Ukrainians don’t need someone at the top with a truncheon who’ll shove them onto the front line under the drones,” he added.
Fedorov’s dismissal: what we know
As a reminder, on 14 July, the Verkhovna Rada backed a resolution on the resignation of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. The entire Cabinet automatically resigned along with her.
Rumours about the replacement of the defence minister began immediately. Zelenskyy said he had not yet decided whether Mykhailo Fedorov would be reappointed to the post alongside the new government. By the evening of 15 July, he had informed MPs from the ‘Servant of the People’ faction that he would propose Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko to take Fedorov’s place.
On the evening of the 15th, Fedorov officially confirmed that he was stepping down, published a report on his team’s work and announced that he would “continue to work towards the mission with which he had previously joined the Ministry of Defence”.
During his final press conference, Mykhailo Fedorov confirmed that he had been in conflict with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, as previously reported in the media. According to him, he had proposed replacing Syrskyi and Chief of Staff Andrii Hnatov, but the Commander-in-Chief, he claimed, “issued an ultimatum” and “devised a way to divide the country”.
The minister’s dismissal sparked a wave of negative reactions on social media. On the morning of 16 July, protests against his resignation began in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine.
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