Fedorov confirms conflict with Syrsky
Mykhailo Fedorov, who headed the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine since January 2026, has confirmed a conflict with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky, who issued an ultimatum to the president regarding Fedorov’s dismissal.
As an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports, he stated this at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
"In reality, when the president said that he does not plan to change Syrsky, that is his decision as Supreme Commander-in-Chief – and I completely agreed with that decision and said, it means I will learn to work with him, because after all, our client is the Ukrainian people, and not someone else," he stated.
However, according to Fedorov, he and his team encountered a situation where all initiatives they proposed began to be blocked.
"And Syrsky, considering all the problems we discussed today, is not prepared to speak personally, face-to-face, openly about the problems. He is prepared to go to meetings personally, weave intrigues, think that someone ordered some campaign in the media, and not consider problems in the actions that are taking place. And this led to the fact that, in fact, he issued an ultimatum, just as we all know," Fedorov said.
According to him, "instead of figuring out how to asymmetrically defeat Russia, which is the Commander-in-Chief’s task, he figured out how to split the country where we are today."
"But I did not set conditions – either me or Syrsky. I said, we will defeat Russia with such a Commander-in-Chief," Fedorov said, adding that in 2022, Syrsky saved the country.