Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told lawmakers from the Servant of the People faction that he will nominate Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko as defense minister, replacing Mykhailo Fedorov, who has held the post since January. Ukrainian media reported the decision, citing parliamentary sources, and Fedorov confirmed his resignation on social media.
According to sources for Ukrainska Pravda and RBC-Ukraine, Zelenskyy attributed the move to a systemic conflict between Fedorov and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi that could not be resolved. “He said that ideally both Fedorov and Syrskyi should be dismissed, but he cannot do that now,” one meeting participant quoted Zelenskyy as saying.
Defense-sector sources told the outlets that the disagreements concerned procurement approaches. Fedorov and the Defense Ministry, they said, purchased weapons — including artillery shells — at their own discretion, without coordinating with the General Staff and the military.
In a farewell post, Fedorov listed his team’s achievements over six months. He mentioned cutting Russian military access to Starlink on the front line and large-scale drone procurement: “having taken over the Defense Ministry without a budget,” his team acquired more drones in four months than in all of the previous year. He also announced the launch of a “logistical lockdown” that began isolating Crimea.
Before becoming interior minister in 2023, Klymenko had headed Ukraine’s National Police since 2019. The Verkhovna Rada is expected to vote on the new cabinet lineup on July 16.