A senior Ukrainian Air Force commander has quit over Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov’s removal, public broadcaster Suspilne reported. Pavlo Yelizarov tied his resignation to the reshuffle, and warned about the reforms it leaves hanging.
A resignation report tied to one firing
Yelizarov posted his resignation report in the stories on his Facebook page. He gave a single reason: Fedorov’s dismissal.
Ukraine’s reformist defense Minister is out after six months. Earlier, his audit exposed $7.2 billion in defense overspending
Yelizarov joined Ukraine’s Armed Forces on 24 February 2022, the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion. He took the deputy Air Force command on 19 January 2026.
The reshuffle behind the exit
His departure comes during a wider Cabinet shake-up. Ukraine’s parliament confirmed Fedorov as defense minister on 14 January, replacing Denys Shmyhal, in Yulia Svyrydenko’s government.
“Our state became further from victory”: Ukraine’s top volunteer, whose fund bought 286,000 FPV Drones, just lost his defense post
On 15 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signaled he would propose Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko for the post in the new Cabinet — a criticized pick.
The dismissal also brought people onto the streets. Ukrainians rallied against it in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytskyi, Uzhhorod, Lutsk, Kropyvnytskyi, and other cities.
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