This July, like last July, has become a month of protest. A year ago, people took to the streets over the authorities' attempt to curb the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO). They were defending the country's anti-corruption institutions. This time, the protest has a face: Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
As last year, this one took place at the call of ex-serviceman Dmytro Koziatynskyi. This time, he was angered by Fedorov's dismissal as defence minister.
He was not the only one. On the morning of 16 July, the square outside the Ivan Franko Theatre in Kyiv filled with people holding cardboard signs.
Ukrainska Pravda spoke to 10 protesters to find out who they are, why they support Fedorov, what they want from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and what kind of country they want to live in.
Who came to the protest
The protest began at 09:01, immediately after the nationwide minute of silence, but people had gathered outside the theatre in advance.
By the time it started, the square was already filled with hundreds of people.
As last year, the cardboard signs carried a wide range of slogans, with some written on the spot. The main demand was simple: Fedorov should remain minister and be allowed to continue his work.
Near the fountain, Ukrainska Pravda met Yurii Anatoliiovych, a retired man who said he came because he believes the defence minister has real achievements to his name – and that now is not the time to dismiss him.
"With Fedorov, there was a real scent of victory. What kind of stunt Zelenskyy is pulling here is completely beyond me," Yurii Anatoliiovych said.
Near the monument to prominent Ukrainian director and actor Hnat Yura, Ukrainska Pravda spoke to Nataliia Bulba, founder of the Rock School music school, who came to the protest with her child. Her husband, the school's co-founder, volunteered for the front despite not being a professional soldier. He was killed in action in 2023.
"We have a president, not a tsar. Society expects dialogue with the authorities – and deserves reasons for their decisions, including an explanation for this dismissal. I regard the constant, chaotic reshuffling of government, carried out without explanation, as a threat to stability – both at the front and in the rear. We are standing here now so that no one dies for something they should not have to die for," Nataliia said.
She supports Fedorov because she can see the results of his work: Russian infrastructure and oil refineries destroyed by drones. "Where drones can do everything, let drones do it," she added.
Kateryna regularly attends Free Azov demonstrations – protests held by the families and friends of captured Ukrainian service members to remind the public that there are still defenders in captivity. The events around Fedorov's dismissal have not left her indifferent either.
"I came here so that Mykhailo is kept in post as defence minister," Kateryna said. "He is an exceptionally effective official who has shown real results in just six months. Dismissing someone like that would be completely irrational.
I want the authorities to hear the voice of the people. This is not a request. It is our demand: let Mykhailo Fedorov stay in his role."
Kateryna, pictured on the right, says she tries to attend all important public events
Nina is currently on maternity leave. She came to the protest with her daughter, Karlita. The young mother told Ukrainska Pravda that Zelenskyy's decision regarding the defence minister has come as a shock.
"Fedorov has done a great deal, and thanks to him we have genuinely started winning this war. What has happened now is a very senseless decision for every Ukrainian. You know, there is this inner feeling that no one asked us. So I think that is why everyone came out today, including us. The people have the right to express their view, and we must be listened to," she said.
"Fedorov has done a great deal, and thanks to him we have genuinely started winning this war," she said. "What has happened now is a senseless decision for every Ukrainian. There is this feeling inside that no one asked us. I think that is why everyone came out today, including us. The people have the right to express their view, and they must be listened to."
Artist Serhii Zakharov also came to the protest. In 2014, militants from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic – a self-proclaimed Russia-backed quasi-state formation in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast – detained him in Donetsk over his pro-Ukrainian position and street installations mocking them. He spent almost two months in captivity, where he was brutally tortured.
"You would think that after all these years of war, our top officials would have grown up," Serhii said. "But that is not happening at all. We are still seeing sheer childishness in their attitude towards anyone who represents even the slightest competition to the president. And, as we can see, every summer brings some new outburst that runs completely counter to common sense."
Near the entrance to the theatre, Ukrainska Pravda meets Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, former CEO of Ukraine's national electricity transmission operator Ukrenergo, who is also outraged by Zelenskyy's possible decision regarding the defence minister.
"The system must rid itself of figures who bring no benefit, and people like Mindich, Kuleba [referring to Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine – ed.] or Halushchenko [former Energy Minister – ed.] should not be part of the inner circle of power.
The president must understand: if he chooses the worst rather than the best, we will not win the war, and he will not be able to protect his own so-called 'dynasty' anyway.
There is a significant risk that the potential of truly capable and professional people who may be appointed to the government today will simply be wasted," Kudrytskyi is convinced.
Kudrytskyi speaks positively about the candidacy of Serhii Koretskyi, who has been appointed prime minister, but doubts his success due to the risk that professionals may become "hostages of the system". "They simply will not be given the opportunity to do what they have to do to save the country."
Zlata works as a veterinarian. She came to the protest with her tiny Biewer Yorkshire Terrier named Shmonia.
"I want all decisions to be reasonable and at least somewhat justified," the woman admits.
She opposes populism and backroom deals, demanding that the authorities treat citizens with respect and explain their actions.
Yana Halytska works as a graphic designer at the NGO Insight, which promotes science. The slogan on her cardboard sign calls on the authorities to make sensible decisions.
"For the second year in a row, we have been gathering with cardboard signs near the Franko Theatre because the authorities are making strange decisions when people are unable to go to polling stations," she comments.
Yana stresses that Zelenskyy must understand that the absence of elections does not make his mandate absolutist.
Aliona Krytsuk heads the Brave to Rebuild charitable foundation, which helps restore residential houses destroyed by Russian attacks and repairs schools and hospitals.
In her view, one of the main problems with Ukrainian public administration is that those who genuinely fight corruption are usually dismissed.
"This is a systemic issue for us. When someone begins to effectively build an anti-corruption system, as Kudrytskyi did at Ukrenergo or as Fedorov is doing now, within six months these ministries or state companies face major inspections and audits. Procurement tenders are launched to end the practice of direct contracts, where purchases are made to benefit certain people in certain companies," Krytsuk reflects.
Meanwhile, speaking about Fedorov's likely successor, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, she asks: "And what has he done about corruption in his own position?"
Ukrainska Pravda also speaks with serviceman Denys. He says this is not his first time attending such protests. A year ago, he took to the streets over the authorities' attempt to dismantle NABU and SAPO. Both then and now, the protests coincided with his leave.
He notes that many changes have taken place in the Ministry of Defence under Fedorov.
"This concerns procurement, addressing the issue of the disconnection of Starlink systems for the Russians, and signing contracts for Gripen fighter jets. What I personally feel is that on the battlefield, enemy guided aerial bombs are a major problem, and to counter them we critically need Gripens equipped with Meteor missiles. This is an extremely important contract for our military, for the battlefield and for the course of the war as a whole," the serviceman emphasises.
"While serving as interior minister, he has not demonstrated any real, substantial changes that he could bring to the Ministry of Defence.
So I believe Klymenko is simply a 'convenient' minister, whereas Fedorov is someone who delivers change," the Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman concludes.
By Volodymyr Fomichov, Ukrainska Pravda
Translated by Ganna Bryedova and Yelyzaveta Khodatska
Edited by Susan McDonald