On Thursday, July 16, mass peaceful rallies in support of Mikhail Fedorov are taking place in Ukrainian cities.. Citizens, including military personnel, veterans and volunteers, oppose his resignation from the post of Minister of Defense. At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada does not yet have enough votes to appoint a new head of the defense department.

Protests in the regions: how the actions took place.

Residents of Odessa, Vinnitsa, Uzhgorod, Lutsk, Kyiv, Dnieper, Lvov, Zaporozhye, Kremenchug, Kharkov, Odessa, Chernivtsi and other cities joined the protests. People take to the squares with national flags and homemade posters.

Kyiv.

In the capital, the action began on the square near the Ivan Franko Theater, reports a ZN correspondent. UA Vasily Artyushenko. The rally participants demand the preservation of reforms and bringing the army in line with NATO standards. Among the main slogans: “we need a russian cutter”, “in a European state - I am a European army” and “to Europe, away from the scoop”.

[pics_lr left\u003d" ua/img/forall/u/667/61/93f040451dd216bcf6ed23d98d8aa213. jpg" ua/img/forall/u/667/61/cf87bec091537eb086465d7e45dde57e. jpg"

Lviv.

People gathered on Svobody Avenue near the monument to Taras Shevchenko. Mayor Andrei Sadovyi joined the protesters. The head of the Lemberg Volunteers charity foundation, Svetlana Nagornaya-Gordiychuk, called Fedorov the most effective defense minister since independence. Lviv residents placed the following inscriptions on the posters: “Why is his ego more important than the defense of the state?”? » and references to financial irregularities identified during the audit.

[pics_lr left\u003d" ua/img/forall/u/667/61/GettyImages-2286344631. jpg" ua/img/forall/u/667/61/GettyImages-2286344618. jpg"

Dnieper.

About 300 citizens came to the rally. The event began with a minute of silence in memory of those killed in the war. Participants held posters with slogans: “Don’t break what works,” “Zelensky, come to your senses, Mikhail, come back,” and “Syrsky away.”.

Zaporozhye.

A “cardboard” rally was held in front of the city council building, which brought together about 60 people. Participants emphasized that Fedorov is a native of the now occupied Vasilyevka, Zaporozhye region. Citizens held posters “The Ministry of Defense needs Fedorov” and “EDiya! Bring Fedorov back"

Kremenchuk.

The protest took place on Victory Square. Local residents expressed disagreement with personnel changes in the leadership of the defense sector in the context of a full-scale invasion.

Odessa.

From the very morning, citizens gathered on Deribasovskaya Street opposite the City Garden, holding state flags and posters in their hands.. The first wave of protest lasted from 9:00 to 11:00. Already at 13:00, on the eve of the Verkhovna Rada meeting, people began to gather in the city center again. According to a Suspilny correspondent, the number of participants exceeded 100 people. Odessa residents chanted: “Exchange prisoners, not Fedorov” and “Act, don’t fire”.

[pics_lr left\u003d" ua/img/forall/u/667/61/cf76c43ddfc00240001d54bc9f1ae902. jpg" ua/img/forall/u/667/61/cb1c031087b2fbf8cd3ea9bbb99ceaa7. jpg"

Vinnitsa.

The action began at the building of the Vinnytsia City Council. People held signs saying “Don’t destroy what works,” “Bring back Fedorov,” and “Don’t take away hope.”. As Suspilna reports, among the protesters was the wife of an active serviceman, Rita, who came to the square with her four-month-old daughter. The woman emphasized that during Fedorov’s tenure in the defense sector, dramatic positive changes have occurred.

Video: rory_chack / Threads.

Uzhgorod.

The protest was organized on Poshtova Square, where, according to the Transcarpathian police, about 50 citizens gathered. Participants came out with posters in support of the minister and chanted slogans.

[pics_lr left\u003d" ua/img/forall/u/667/61/782e24c95e2ac646440919f7ac969828. jpg" ua/img/forall/u/667/61/22ace3c3c8727da6ab24974ffde6cb2f. jpg"

Lutsk.

Protesters gathered on Teatralnaya Square. City residents protested not only against the dismissal of the head of the Ministry of Defense, but also against other personnel changes in the government. The posters of the participants read: “Ukraine needs results, not personnel games”, “only convenient generals are stable” and “false mottos - never again”.

Fedorov's reaction and the situation in parliament.

Acting Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov commented on the protests during a briefing. He said that citizens took to the streets not for the sake of his personality, but because of the demand for respect for state values.

[quote type\u003d" The Ukrainian people stood up for themselves. The people feel that things are not going in accordance with their values,” the official noted.. [/quote].

Fedorov emphasized that the position for him is only a tool for achieving victory, however, in the current configuration of power, he does not see an opportunity to realize this task. He also announced a planned meeting with President Vladimir Zelensky, at which the future future of both Fedorov himself and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be discussed..

Meanwhile, difficulties arose with personnel appointments in the Verkhovna Rada. Journalist Evgeny Plinsky reported that people's deputies are not ready to vote for the appointment of the current head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Igor Klimenko, to the post of Minister of Defense due to the powerful public outcry.

[see_also ids\u003d"

This information was confirmed by people's deputy from the Golos faction Yaroslav Zheleznyak:.

[quote type\u003d" Accordingly, no one will vote for him today.”. [/quote].

Background and consequences of the decision.

The decision to change the leadership of the Ministry of Defense was initiated after the Verkhovna Rada supported the resignation of Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko and her entire cabinet on July 14. The next day, July 15, Mikhail Fedorov confirmed his resignation from his position and reported on the work done.

Among the key achievements of his team, Fedorov named:.

restricting the use of Starlink terminals by Russian troops;

expansion of drone procurement and launch of specialized support programs (Defense AI Center A1, Trophy Lab, Drone Deal);

receiving contracts for Gripen fighters and Patriot missiles;

attracting $40 billion in assistance from partners as part of the Ramstein meetings.

At the same time, he admitted that he did not have time to complete the transfer of all procurement to the tender system and the organizational reform of the department in accordance with NATO standards.

The decision to resign caused criticism among the military and experts. In particular, military volunteer Maria Berlinskaya called Fedorov’s dismissal a mistake by the state leadership. In connection with the change of minister, volunteer Sergei Sternenko and radio technology expert Sergei “Flash” Beskrestnov left their advisory positions.. Sternenko noted that the team was just preparing new tender requirements for the purchase of FPV drones, but the reforms were blocked by bureaucratic resistance. The day before, veteran Dmitry Kozyatinsky also addressed the public with a call to protest.

The attempt to dismiss Mikhail Fedorov along with the entire government is not an ordinary personnel reshuffle, but a planned elimination of an overly independent official, writes the editor of the ZN internal politics department. UA Inna Vedernikova in the article “The First Government of Arakhamia? Why is Bankovaya reconfiguring the levers of power?. In her assessment, a large-scale reboot of the Cabinet of Ministers is intended to disguise the dismissal of the head of the Ministry of Defense. Vedernikova writes that Zelensky deliberately did not stop the discrediting of the minister in the controlled media, since Fedorov became inconvenient for the entire power elite.