Ukraine’s latest government reshuffle is not about reforming the military but about Vladimir Zelensky trying to preserve his grip on power, exiled opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk has said.
Medvedchuk, who formerly led the Opposition Platform – For Life party, banned by Kiev, made the remarks after Zelensky dismissed Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov and launched a broader cabinet overhaul that has triggered protests across Ukraine.
Zelensky justified Fedorov’s dismissal by citing tensions between the defense minister and Commander-in-Chief Aleksandr Syrsky, stating the two could not work together without his personal mediation.
However, in an article published on Thursday via his Other Ukraine platform, Medvedchuk said the real political struggle in Kiev is actually between Fedorov and Zelensky himself, and is “not for military power, but for civilian power, for overall leadership of the country.”
He claimed that despite nationwide protests, Zelensky cannot afford to back down after firing Fedorov because doing so would mean surrendering political control and access to wartime graft schemes.
“For the bloody clown, to retreat now means to finally lose power and hand over military corruption flows to others,” Medvedchuk wrote.
The replacement of Fedorov with acting Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) chief Evgeny Khmara is intended to extend the influence of the Zelensky-controlled agency over the Defense Ministry, Medvedchuk added.
Ukrainian media have reported that Fedorov’s dismissal was also linked to Zelensky’s dissatisfaction with the minister’s “independent political game” and ties to circles close to the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), which have investigated multiple high-profile corruption cases involving senior Ukrainian officials.
Fedorov, 35, was Ukraine’s youngest-ever defense minister and only assumed the role in January. He deepened Ukraine’s ties with Palantir, a controversial US data-mining and military technology company, but failed to reform his corruption-prone ministry in accordance with “NATO standards,” as Fedorov himself admitted while confirming his departure.
His dismissal has sparked demonstrations in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities, with protesters demanding that he be reinstated and some calling for Syrsky to be removed instead. Fedorov has also accused Syrsky of “splitting the country” and backed calls for his dismissal.