Ukraine's ousted defense minister opens up about his clashes with the top general. He says every change hit resistance.

• Ukrainian leadership ousted Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister this week.
• Fedorov said his innovative approach to the war clashed with the military leadership's traditional thinking.
• He said his efforts to reform the military were met with resistance by the top commander.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's ousted defense minister who pushed for sweeping reforms to transform the military into a modern fighting force, said his efforts to bring about change were met with resistance from the top brass.

Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Fedorov said he recommended that Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Kyiv's commander in chief, be removed from his role, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disagreed. The now-former defense minister said he told the president he could live with that decision and would take steps to work with the commander for the good of Ukraine.

"But we found ourselves in a situation where every initiative we put forward began to be blocked," Fedorov said, telling reporters that Syrskyi was "not willing to discuss problems face-to-face" and instead issued an ultimatum.

"Instead of figuring out how to defeat Russia asymmetrically, he figured out how to split the country," Fedorov said, per local media translations of his remarks. "And that's a major problem."

Syrskyi, in his first public comments following Fedorov's dismissal, thanked the ousted minister and wished him "continued success as part of the Ukrainian team."

Fedorov, a 35-year-old tech champion who previously served as minister for digital transformation and is known for a Silicon Valley-style approach to the war, was appointed to oversee the defense ministry in January.

During his brief tenure as defense minister, Fedorov pushed for a series of changes to dramatically reform the Ukrainian armed forces, placing greater emphasis on developing drones, robots, and other emerging technologies, tackling corruption within the defense ministry, and overhauling the contracting system to address manpower issues.

Speaking Thursday, Fedorov credited Syrskyi for his battlefield victories, especially early in the war. "He led the Kyiv and Kharkiv operations and took part in the Kherson operation. We cannot underestimate a commander like that," he said.

"But the war has changed completely. Drone technology is evolving every few months," Fedorov said. "The command-and-control system has changed, and we need to change as well. We cannot continue doing things the way we did back then."

"I spoke openly about this; we know how to get through the bureaucracy, so let's do it. I was told: 'Don't touch it!' I put up with it and was prepared to continue working quietly until the commander-in-chief issued an ultimatum."

Ukraine has seen a string of battlefield wins under Fedorov, using drones to target Russian logistics and supply routes and make the front lines deadlier for Moscow's troops. Farther away, Kyiv has ramped up its long-range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure and escalated its efforts to cut off the occupied Crimean peninsula.

Fedorov's leadership at the defense ministry has made him popular among Ukrainian soldiers, many of whom were critical of military leadership, including Syrskyi, and its Soviet-style command. In Kyiv, the push for more battlefield innovation had led to a sense of optimism about the war's trajectory.

But ultimately, the differences between Fedorov and Syrskyi became too great for Zelenskyy to ignore. The president acknowledged the rift on Thursday and said it had created a problem for him.

Zelenskyy reshuffled his government this week and chose to leave Fedorov off the list. The former defense minister said Thursday that he had been pushed out and declined a government advisory role. His dismissal will be finalized pending a vote by Ukraine's parliament on a replacement.

The surprise decision was met with outrage. Ukrainians took to the streets in major cities to protest, and soldiers and officers called the move a major mistake that could significantly benefit Russia.

Fedorov said on Thursday that he had identified nearly a dozen issues in Ukraine's military management shortly after taking office earlier this year, from a fragmented fighting strategy to a lack of accountability. He said he tried to advocate for changes across the board, but he encountered pushback.

"What solutions were proposed at the time? Radical personnel decisions. That meant changing both the commander in chief and the chief of the general staff," Fedorov said. "It meant creating an environment where strong leaders could develop instead of being held back or constantly reprimanded."

If finalized, his removal could plunge Ukraine's military into uncertainty at a critical moment, both on and off the battlefield.

"I am proud that, thanks to the Kyiv defense operation in 2022, we managed to defend our capital. And now, briefings can be held in this city, visions can be formed, and decisions can be made," Syrskyi said in his comments after Fedorov's dismissal.

"I will make every effort to ensure that such events can take place in a free and independent Ukraine," the commander said. "To achieve this, we need to focus on the war and on an effective strategy that is currently demonstrating concrete results."

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