Zelenskiy’s dismissal of defense chief sparks political crisis

Rare protests erupted in Ukraine yesterday over the dismissal of Ukrainian minister of defense Mykhailo Fedorov as a dispute between the reformer and Kyiv’s top general spilled into the open during the president’s second overhaul of his wartime Cabinet in a year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s reshuffle has fueled public anger over his exclusion of Fedorov, a 35-year-old tech expert who has aimed to reshape Kyiv’s outmanned army into a more efficient fighting force to take on Russia. Hundreds of people took to the streets in the capital Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities to demand he be reappointed, and the deputy commander of the Ukrainian Air Force resigned. Protesters hold placards reading messages such as “Fuck the system that works against me,” center, during a demonstration a