{"id":8182,"date":"2026-07-22T13:26:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=8182"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:57:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:57:04","slug":"zelensky-feared-ex-defense-ministers-political-rise-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/22\/zelensky-feared-ex-defense-ministers-political-rise-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky feared ex-defense minister\u2019s political rise \u2013 media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mikhail Fedorov was dismissed after being viewed as a potential election rival, Ukrainskaya Pravda has claimed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s Vladimir Zelensky dismissed Mikhail Fedorov over fears that the former defense minister might become a political rival, Ukrainskaya Pravda has reported, citing sources in Kiev.
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Zelensky justified his decision to sack his sixth defense minister in as many years by pointing to a conflict between Fedorov and Ukraine\u2019s top military commander, General Aleksandr Syrsky.
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Syrsky disputed Zelensky\u2019s account on Monday, saying that \u201cIt was a surprise for me to learn that the Minister and I had a conflict. I perceived our relationship as a working one.\u201d<\/em>
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According to Ukrainskaya Pravda\u2019s sources, Zelensky had been persuaded that Fedorov could eventually emerge as a rival in future elections. Earlier media reports claimed the then-defense minister had already been encouraged to launch his own political party, while a recent opinion poll put his net approval rating two percentage points above Zelensky\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Former
Ukraine\u2019s leadership crisis: Has Zelensky created another political rival?<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Two of Zelensky\u2019s closest political allies, former Presidential Office chief Andrey Yermak and top Servant of the People Party MP David Arakhamia, also backed Fedorov\u2019s dismissal, according to Ukrainskaya Pravda.<\/p>\n

Yermak is widely regarded as one of Ukraine\u2019s most influential political figures, while Arakhamia is responsible for maintaining the president\u2019s parliamentary majority.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The outlet added that Zelensky later offered Fedorov several senior government positions. The former minister reportedly declined, saying he did not understand why he had been dismissed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The outlet was not alone in suggesting political motives for Fedorov\u2019s ouster. Strana claimed earlier that Zelensky had become increasingly dissatisfied with Fedorov\u2019s\u00a0\u201cindependent political game\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and his ties to circles close to the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor\u2019s Office (SAPO).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fedorov\u2019s dismissal sparked protests in Kiev and other cities, with demonstrators demanding that Zelensky reinstate the defense minister and fire Syrsky instead, as he was reportedly unpopular with the troops.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n READ MORE: <\/span>Zelensky fires top Ukrainian General Syrsky
\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n

The top general was dismissed on Tuesday, with Zelensky thanking him for his role in the defense of Kiev, the 2022 Kharkov offensive, and Ukraine\u2019s 2024 incursion into Russia\u2019s Kursk Region, which ultimately ended in defeat and inflicted heavy losses on Ukrainian forces.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mikhail Fedorov was dismissed after being viewed as a potential election rival, Ukrainskaya Pravda has claimed Ukraine\u2019s Vladimir Zelensky dismissed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8182"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8182"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8185,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8182\/revisions\/8185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}