After a week of chaos, scandal and protest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy may sack the controversial military commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and reportedly has acknowledged the effectiveness of ousted ex-Defence Minister Fedorov who has been offered an expanded national security role with real powers.

Zelenskiy is facing the worst domestic political crisis of his presidency as thousands of demonstrators gather daily to protest since July 15 against the surprise government reshuffle last week, caused widespread debate and tension in Bankova.

In his six months on the job, the former tech entrepreneur Fedorov showed himself to be highly effective and began to turn the tide on the battlefield – something he himself pointed out with a list of 22 achievements he posted online in his farewell message on social media.

Insiders describe “intense turbulence” in Zelenskiy’s office ever since the reshuffle of the government was triggered by the resignation of Yuliia Svyrydenko and subsequently replaced by ex-Naftogaz CEO Serhii Koretskyi a few days later. Zelenskiy scrambled and proposed two replacements but failed to get their name passed the Rada deputies, eventually appointing spy chief Yevhenii Khmara as acting minister.

Thousands of Ukrainians gathered outside the presidential administration building in the second anti-government demonstrations since the war started four years ago chanting: “Syrskyi out!”

Zelenskiy said last week that he was open to replacing Ukraine’s commander in chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi “if a suitable candidate can be found.

Zelenskiy told reporters this week that the relationship between Fedorov and Syrskyi had grown so bad that the two were no longer on speaking terms. Fedorov was reportedly lobbying Bankova, Ukraine’s presidential administration, to sack Syrskyi, but was ousted himself in the shake up.

“Without me they don’t sit down together [to talk],” Zelenskiy said the Financial Times reports. He had “wanted unity very much” between Fedorov and Syrskyi but “did not achieve it”.

Zelenskiy has reportedly created a new position at the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) with real powers, although there has been no official confirmation of the decision yet. Local sources report that Fedorov will be put in charge of military procurement and military technology.

If confirmed, Zelenskiy would kill two birds with one stone: first, he partially corrects his decision to downgrade Fedorov, viewed by the Ukrainian protesters as anti-reform; second, this step should reassure the West that the procurement procedures within which the military aid is spent will improve, according to political analysts and IntelliNews columnist Denis Cenusa.

Ukraine’s western allies have reportedly been pressuring Bankova to keep Fedorov on, pleased with his effectiveness as Defence Minister and worried about the rampant corruption at the famously venal Defence Ministry procurement process.

“Giving Fedorov a mandate that compounds military procurement looks more like a "hidden" request from the Western allies, who got concerned about how their aid is being spent,” said Cenusa.

Syrskyi on way out

According to Ukrainian media reports, the decision to remove Syrskyi from his position has already been made. The general played a vital role in the defence of Kyiv in 2022, but has become a divisive figure, earning the monikers “The Butcher” and “General 200”, a reference to the Soviet cargo designation for coffins of dead soldiers flown home.

Many expect that he will be pushed out within days, The Economist reports citing local officials. Fedorov said Syrskyi “saved” Ukraine in 2022, but was no longer the man to command, speaking to The Economist before his dismissal.

Ukraine’s General Staff dismissed recent media reports alleging Syrskyi was about to be removed from his post. “General Oleksandr Syrskyi continues to perform his duties as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Lieutenant General Andriy Hnatov, Chief of the General Staff, also continues in his role. Dismissal from these positions occurs only by presidential decree,” the General Staff wrote on Telegram.

A source in the presidential office has confirmed that Zelenskiy spent several hours talking face-to-face with his ousted defence minister over the weekend and met with top commanders on July 20 in what Ukrainian media reports as “auditions” for a potential Syrskyi replacement.

Initially Fedorov turned down other roles, insisting on a return to the Defence Ministry when he learned of the threat to his job last week. Now he appears to be using the protests to negotiate from a position of strength and appears to have comprised to take an expanded role at the NSDC.

The meetings included with Joint Forces Commander Mykhailo Drapatyi, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Volodymyr Horbatyuk, and Third Army Corps Commander Andriy Biletsky, who is seen as the favourite candidate to take over as Commander-in-Chief.

In total the names of seven generals have been proposed to take over as Commander-in-Chief: Ihor Obolensky, Commander, 2nd National Guard Corps ("Khartia"); Oleh Apostol, commander of Air Assault Forces ; Viktor Nikolyuk: Commander, Operational Command East have also been mentioned as possible replacements.

Biletsky is the founder of the legendary Azov Regiment that defended the steelworks in Mariupol for months, amongst other achievements.

Zelenskiy has met Drapatyi twice over the past two days who has repeatedly stressed the importance of commanders taking responsibility and conducting regular self-assessments to learn from mistakes and went on to praise Fedorov for a “genuine effort to change the rules that have long governed the military.”

"The military needs change, but without justice, no change will make sense to the people who carry this war on their shoulders every day," Drapatyi said in a Facebook post on July 16, backing Fedorov the day after his dismissal, The Kyiv Independent reports.

Drapatyi commands the newly established Joint Forces battalion fighting in and around northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, where it has retaken large swaths of land since the autumn of 2025.

Syrskyi pushes back

Syrskyi said he was caught off guard by media reports of an alleged conflict with former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov in a column for Militarnyi and he always viewed their relationship as a working one, albeit one with difficult decisions and differing viewpoints.

He went on to issue a public apology to Fedorov: “If I have offended anyone - Mykhailo Albertovych, I apologize. I can be tough. But I ask you, and everyone who has become captivated by this story, let’s stay focused on the bigger picture. On victory,” Syrskyi wrote.

However, he also hit back at Fedorov, saying the ex-minister Fedorov redirected funds intended for troop salaries to the purchase of drones. According to Syrskyi, this move created problems with payroll for military personnel, and authorities are now working to solve this.

Syrskyi also criticized Fedorov’s new military contract conditions designed to boost army numbers introduced by Fedorov’s team in June. Only about 2,000 troops signed the new contracts out of an overall force of about one million. Syrskyi said soldiers and officers expected different terms and that this “experiment” raises “serious legal questions.”

Fedorov’s reputation

Under pressure from volunteer groups, business leaders of Ukraine's western allies, Zelenskiy has changed his stance again and publicly praised Fedorov’s record at the Ministry of Defence on July 18, announcing that he would return to government in a new more powerful role.

At the end of last week, Zelenskiy offered Fedorov a job as advisor, but that was refused as Fedorov said he wanted the authority to continue his reforms of the venally corrupt and highly inefficient Defence Ministry.

Zelenskiy admitted the technological advances made by Ukraine’s armed forces during Fedorov’s six months in office had been exemplary, highlighting the expansion of drone programmes and progress on the country’s domestic ballistic missile programme.

Amongst other initiatives, Fedorov is responsible for expanding Ukraine’s medium- and long-range drone capacity that has wreaked havoc on Russia’s logistical support of the frontline and hit all 30 of Russia’s oil refineries, causing a country-wide fuel crisis.

While officially Zelenskiy blamed Fedorov’s failure to solve the recruitment crisis as the reason for Fedorov’s dismissal, it is an open secret that a personality clash between Fedorov and Syrskyi was to blame for his departure. The two men are from different generations and have different ideas on how to fight a war. Tech entrepreneur Fedorov reportedly was lobbing for Soviet-trained Syrskyi’s removal, publicly complaining that the commander was actively blocking many of his initiatives.

During a working meeting with the new Cabinet on July 18, led by the newly appointed Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi, Zelenskiy stressed the importance of preserving the capacity of Fedorov’s reform team.

He said disagreements with the military leadership and tensions between state institutions should not be allowed to overshadow reforms that had already produced tangible results on the battlefield.

According to people close to the Presidential Office, Zelenskiy accepted that the original plan to remove Fedorov from the executive because of disagreements with the General Staff had been a “tactical mistake” that generated unnecessary public tension.

“Mykhailo Fedorov has proven that he can break through bureaucratic barriers and create asymmetric advantages against the enemy. His dismissal as minister during the government’s restructuring was a procedural step, but he remains an integral part of our team. The state highly values his contribution, and we have prepared a role where his full potential can be realised without the limitations of a traditional ministerial office,” Zelenskiy said in an about face on his previous criticism.

The statement appeared intended to end speculation over Fedorov’s future and contain the political fallout from his removal.

A special NSDC mandate

The key change is that Fedorov could return to government with real powers over military reforms and policy. Because the parliamentary approval process for the new Cabinet involved a complex series of personnel changes, including the appointment of Yevhen Khmara as acting defence minister, the administration has now created a more flexible position for Fedorov.

According to preliminary information from presidential advisers, Fedorov will be appointed to Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council as chairman of a newly created Defence MilTech and Strategic Planning Coordination Council.

Reporting directly to the president, he is expected to receive a broad mandate covering the coordination of defence technology projects, including the Brave1 platform, long-range unmanned systems and the missile programme.

The new structure would give him direct oversight of these programmes while allowing him to bypass some of the intermediate approvals required within the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff.

Crucially, Fedorov will continue his fight against corruption at the ministry as he has been given responsibility for auditing military procurement and developing a transparent digital system to monitor defence logistics and reduce corruption risks. During the initial audit Fedorov ordered on becoming minister he found UAH300bn ($6.6bn) of “savings” from “overspending” the government could make by reorganising the procurement process.

A further part of the role would involve direct negotiations with Western governments and investors, with Fedorov serving as the administration’s principal representative for attracting foreign investment into Ukraine’s high-technology defence industry. Fedorov is also credited with actively expanding the so-called Danish model of cooperation with European governments and companies to produce materiel for Ukraine with joint ventures.

The decision should put a bookend on the expanding government appointment scandal. The news that Zelenskiy and Fedorov had reached an agreement, and that the former minister would return with potentially broader powers, was greeted with relief by some political figures, volunteer groups and representatives of the business community.

The arrangement appears to have contained the immediate crisis surrounding Fedorov’s departure, while allowing Zelenskiy to retain one of the administration’s most prominent reformers without reopening the parliamentary struggle over the composition of the Cabinet.