Ukrainian Domestic — 2026-08-17

Thousands March in Kyiv Demanding Reinstatement of Dismissed Defense Minister Fedorov as Protests Enter Second Month

BLUFZelensky is unlikely to reinstate Fedorov by late September, having absorbed the political cost of dismissal while channeling protest energy into a narrower portfolio dispute he can outlast.

Kyiv Independent journalists estimated a couple of thousand demonstrators marched from the Arch of Freedom to Ivan Franko Square on Sunday evening, the 32nd consecutive day of protest since Fedorov's mid-July dismissal per 24 Kanal, though Suspilne put Kyiv turnout closer to 1,000 123. Organizer Dmytro Koziatynskyi read a petition demanding dialogue with President Volodymyr Zelensky and continued defense-sector reforms, which was handed to a representative of the President's Office 14. Parallel marches were held in Odesa, Dnipro, Lviv, Kharkiv, Cherkasy and Mykolaiv, where police counted more than 50 participants 25. Zelensky has not directly addressed the demand; Kyiv Independent reported he offered Fedorov a senior post as deputy prime minister for military innovation or head of Ukroboronprom on July 21, which Fedorov rejected 1.

Analysis
Zelensky is unlikely to reinstate Fedorov by September 30: he has already defused the movement's more tractable grievance by replacing Syrskyi with Drapatyi, while continuing to offer Fedorov only a technology-sector post he has publicly refused, pointing to the procurement-reform portfolio, not command friction, as the sticking point. The protest movement has now passed the one-month mark, sustaining simultaneous marches across seven cities as parliament's August 18 return approaches without any public overture from Zelensky. Confidence is high, given a month of consistent, unmoving positions on both sides and no sign of backchannel dialogue. Sourcing draws on two independent primary accounts alongside secondary amplification and Kyiv Independent's on-the-ground reporting, broadly convergent despite divergent crowd estimates suggesting a committed core rather than broadening pressure. A formal nomination of acting minister Khmara when parliament returns would further entrench the arrangement and complicate Western partners' procurement-continuity planning.

5 sources