President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Mykhailo Fedorov had presented him with the concept of a “ministry of war.” He turned it down, but the then defense minister began taking steps in that direction, LB’s correspondent reports, citing the president’s remarks from a meeting with journalists.
The president explained that he had an understanding with Fedorov about how the army functions and who is responsible for operations. Military operations are carried out first and foremost by service members.
“Provisioning is handled by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. If someone encroaches on another person’s area of responsibility, it will inevitably lead to conflict. And a conflict did happen—and a very serious one. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine cannot work without the Ministry of Defense, without the defense minister, and the defense minister cannot work without the Commander-in-Chief. It’s simply a catastrophe for a country at war,” he explained.
Key personnel decisions in the army are the responsibility of the president and the chief of the General Staff, the Commander-in-Chief, and corps commanders—not the Defense Ministry alone.
“Don’t like the military chain of command? That’s a different matter. But there is a lawful procedure for how particular people are replaced. Someone may dislike Syrskyi for one reason or another. But slogans like ‘Syrskyi is a devil’? ‘Khmara is a devil’?... And what comes next? Will they say ‘Budanov is a devil’? Listen, that’s going too far. Do you understand? You simply cannot treat the military like that or tolerate it—especially when it was the military who made any peaceful protests in the Ukrainian capital possible at all by defending it from the Russians,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The president said he rejected the concept of creating a “ministry of war” from the very beginning. “I called him at the very start and said: ‘A ministry of war, when there is no Commander-in-Chief and the chief of the General Staff is effectively under you—forget that presentation.’ There was such a presentation about a ‘ministry of war.’ He replied: ‘I hear you.’ And then he began looking for other steps to do the same thing, just not so straightforwardly. That was wrong. And Syrskyi began responding with his bureaucracy to the other bureaucracy coming from the ministry. And that was also wrong. We met with Mykhailo before my meeting with lawmakers, and he told me: ‘Well then, honestly, fire both of them.’ I told him that’s how it would be, but in sequence. Because in a war like this, I will not remove the defense minister and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the same day. The Commander-in-Chief is within my powers as president of Ukraine, and the defense minister is also within my powers, but together with lawmakers,” he said. He believes that the protests triggered by Fedorov’s dismissal are normal, but not with “devil” slogans directed at the military.
“It’s disrespectful to people who have done a great deal for Ukraine. I truly had—and still have—a very positive attitude toward Mykhailo. We’ve been through a lot together. But I believe he is heading—or is being pushed—into the wrong things,” he said.
He added that both former Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Mykhailo Fedorov have done a great deal for the state.
“But no matter what, you can’t let it get to the point of conflict where they don’t even speak to each other, and then both say there was no conflict. How was there no conflict? You meet and discuss anything only in my office. Two weeks before the decision, I told them I was giving them a chance—meet on your own, resolve it. They didn’t meet.… That can’t be. Oleksandr Syrskyi has a large number of victories. But regardless, he should have paid attention to the story with ‘Skelia,’ and so on. He needed to respond—that’s a fact. Were there questions for him? There were. But there is still Kyiv, there is Kharkiv, there is the Kursk operation. He is definitely not a ‘devil.’ Mykhailo also has his own victories—and serious ones. Especially in digitalization. I offered him four different formats for continuing to work on our state as part of the team. Usually I don’t meet with people four times to offer them a job, because I consider it simply unconstructive. In this case I did it, given our good and long relationship. Mykhailo turned down all four offers. Well, that’s his choice,” he said.
He also criticized claims that the new Commander-in-Chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, would not be effective without a particular defense minister.
“It’s wrong to speak that way about a service member of that level. One is already a ‘devil,’ the second is a ‘devil’… And now this Commander-in-Chief—people are already saying about him that supposedly, well, it’s… They say: if he were with that team, then it would supposedly make sense. How is that? He is a general of this war. Whether he is a good or bad Commander-in-Chief—wait. He is now the new Commander-in-Chief. Drapatyi is a Hero of Ukraine. How can he be ‘without someone’? Is he a crutch that people just lean on? What kind of attitude is that toward a service member of that level? When did marketing start outweighing people who give their lives? It’s simply wrong and unfair. To all service members. I come out to you now and say the guys have recaptured almost 900 square kilometers. Did I come out and say: listen, I have it written here that I recaptured 900 kilometers?.. Do you understand the difference? How much effort goes into every operation? Every operation. How much risk, how many losses? Who carries out long-range operations? Who cuts logistics in Crimea? Who restores Ukraine’s control in the Dnipro region? It’s not something one person does, and it’s not one person’s заслуга. And it must be respected,” he said.
The president said he considers it important that people can protest even during wartime. But it is important not to build barriers between one another and not to split into camps.
“First: there are two big camps—warriors and non-warriors. Some are on the front line, and others are simply living. As much as that is possible. You cannot ‘simply’ live during a war like this. You have to live, work, and help those who defend. That is very important. Precisely because these are the ties between the military and civilians. These are the ties thanks to which we all do everything to save this country. That’s why we must always find a balance. Yes, people go to cafes, they rest, but, excuse me, dancing on tables is unacceptable. But you have to go to cafes, otherwise there will be no life. And that’s normal. For the most part, for service members it’s normal, because they understand they are defending a country that must live. But everyone must keep the balance and respect one another, and not create internal camps,” he said.
Overall, speaking about the decision to renew the government, the president said he had several reasons for it. He considers restarting the government under Serhii Koretskyi—a person with experience getting through winter at the helm of the energy company Naftogaz—to be the right decision. The implementation of resilience plans needs to be accelerated. Some communities are 60% ready, while others are at 30%.