Protests against Fedorov's dismissal continue for ninth day in Kyiv and other cities – photos
People in Kyiv and other cities took to the streets on 24 July for a ninth consecutive day of protests against Mykhailo Fedorov's dismissal from the post of defence minister.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda correspondents in Kyiv and Kharkiv
Details: Protesters are chanting slogans such as "There was no reason to dismiss him, so he must be reinstated", "Bring him back", "With Fedorov and Drapatyi you cannot defeat us!", "There's one Mykhailo, now we need another!", and "You broke it, now fix it!"
For a second day running, cardboard signs also carried messages opposing the appointment of Vitalii Kim as minister for veterans affairs.
An Ukrainska Pravda correspondent in Kharkiv reported that protesters have also gathered on Freedom Square.
Protesters there are chanting: "Reforms must continue", "There's one Mykhailo, now we need another", and "We are not Russia, the people are strength".
Update: A missile threat was later issued in Kharkiv, and the people continued the protest in the metro.
Background:
- Protests were held in Kyiv and other cities every day from 16 to 24 July, with demonstrators demanding that Fedorov be reinstated as defence minister and that Oleksandr Syrskyi be dismissed as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that Fedorov and Syrskyi had been unable to find common ground and that problems on the battlefield, within brigades and with mobilisation remained unresolved.
- On 18 July, the president said he had spoken with Fedorov and Syrskyi. He promised that "decisions regarding the army will be worked out".
- On 20 July, Syrskyi apologised to Fedorov and said he had not realised there was a conflict between them.
- Following six days of protests, Zelenskyy announced his decision to dismiss Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and appoint Mykhailo Drapatyi to replace him.
- Ex-serviceman Dmytro Koziatynskyi, who had previously been calling on people to protest against the then commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, urged Ukrainians to join a protest in Kyiv on 24 July demanding that Fedorov be reinstated as defence minister.
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