Ukraine’s defence shake-up exposes rift in Zelensky’s inner circle

For the second time in a year, there have been public protests in Ukraine in response to a decision by the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. In July 2025, protests erupted when Zelensky tried to curb the powers of two independent corruption agencies, forcing him to backtrack. The trigger for the latest protests was the dismissal of Ukraine’s popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov. This is not the first time Zelensky has reshuffled his defence team. Oleksii Reznikov, who had been…