Zelenskyy and Budanov spend day in crisis talks as government faces chaos — FT
Presidential Office head Kyrylo Budanov (Photo: Zelenskiy Official / Telegram)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spent most of July 16 holding urgent crisis negotiations with the Head of the Presidential Office, Kyrylo Budanov, to coordinate an exit strategy as mass protests and political backlash over DM Mykhailo Fedorov firing threw the government into turmoil, Financial Times (FT) wrote.
The publication emphasized that the ouster of Fedorov has plunged the Zelenskyy administration into chaotic waters, sparking a massive wave of public and political discontent. The fallout has reached the military itself, with Deputy Air Force Commander Pavlo Yelizarov handing in his resignation in protest.
Aides to the president revealed that Zelenskyy spent a significant portion of the day in intensive talks with Budanov, his chief of staff, trying to map out a resolution to the mounting crisis.
The decision to dismiss Fedorov has exposed deep and unusual fissures within Ukrainian military circles, as well as within Zelenskyy's own parliamentary majority in the Verkhovna Rada. Lawmakers speaking to the FT characterized the atmosphere in the parliament as "explosive."
After members of parliament warned that the ruling Sluha Narodu (Servant of the People) party could not secure the required votes to confirm Fedorov's preferred successor, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, the president was forced to make a significant concession.
Late on July 16, Zelenskyy announced that Yevhen Khmara would take over as acting defense minister.
The ouster of Mykhailo Fedorov
This sudden reshuffle marks a dramatic escalation in internal wartime politics:
The Lead-Up: On July 15, President Zelenskyy stated he had not yet decided whether Mykhailo Fedorov will retain the defense portfolio in the new cabinet following the departure of Yuliia Svyrydenko as prime minister.
The Sudden Shift: Shortly after, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported that Zelenskyy intended to nominate Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko to replace Fedorov.
The Conflict: Reports by The Economist and Ukrainska Pravda confirmed that Fedorov faced fierce resistance from traditional military brass over his aggressive digitalization and procurement reforms. This culminated in a direct clash with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi. Fedorov later confirmed the conflict, stating that Syrskyi blocked his initiatives and "engineered intrigues" instead of focusing on asymmetric warfare.
The Compromise: To defuse the parliamentary and public revolt, Zelenskyy bypassed Klymenko and named Major General Yevhen Khmara as acting defense minister.
Khmara earlier headed the SBU's elite "Alpha" Special Operations Center, which Zelenskyy noted has delivered some of the highest-impact results on the battlefield, particularly in executing deep-strike drone operations against Russian energy infrastructure.
"He knows exactly what Ukraine needs and can monitor the internal situation within the components of the Defense Forces," Zelenskyy said in his evening address.
"He has sufficient security experience to prevent things we would be ashamed of."
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