August 16, 2026
People gathered in Kyiv on Aug. 16 for a protest march demanding the reinstatement of former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, more than a month after his unexpected dismissal. At 7 p.m., a couple of thousand demonstrators assembled at Kyiv’s Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People, Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground reported.
The march aims to “remind the president of the importance of dialogue between the authorities and society, as well as of the fact that the president himself must bear responsibility for the consequences of all questionable personnel decisions,” said Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a war veteran and one of the protest’s organizers.
Fedorov, a popular ex-minister praised for his reforms and spearheading the expansion of Ukraine’s drone capabilities, was fired by President Volodymyr Zelensky in a chaotic government reshuffle in mid-July.
Protesters have been rallying in Kyiv and other cities since then, demanding that Zelensky reinstate Fedorov.
The latest march takes place as the Ukrainian parliament is set to return from its summer recess on Aug. 18, with protesters waiting to see whether Zelensky will officially nominate acting Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara to the position.
Zelensky has yet to respond directly to the protesters’ demands regarding Fedorov, leading to an impasse between the Presidential Office and the organizers.
The protests have lost some momentum in recent weeks — especially after Zelensky dismissed Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, which was one of the protesters’ demands — with later rallies drawing only a few hundred people.
Fedorov’s future remains uncertain. The president said on July 21 he had offered the ex-minister “a prominent position in the government” focused on strengthening Ukraine’s technological sector.
According to a person close to Zelensky, the proposal envisioned either making Fedorov a deputy prime minister for military innovations or appointing him to lead Ukroboronprom, Ukraine’s state-owned defense conglomerate.
Fedorov has rejected those options, making clear that he wants to return only as defense minister.