The maturity and dignity of Ukraine’s citizens – and leaders

Time and again on the battlefront, Ukraine has come back from serious setbacks. And, at key moments, its resilient citizens and political leadership have demonstrated they can do the same on the minefield of politics, too.The recent reshuffle in the top tier of Ukraine’s defense leadership, coming partway through Year 5 of the country’s valiant stand against Russian aggression, is a case in point.Amid air-raid sirens and destroyed buildings, Ukrainians poured into the streets in protest immediately after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s July 15 firing of a popular defense minister. The youthful Mykhailo Fedorov, who streamlined procurement and emphasized remote warfare technology, differed in approach with the military commander in chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi. After initially sticking with General Syrskyi – known for a more traditional, top-down leadership style – President Zelenskyy eventually replaced him after a few days of demonstrations and internal discussions.The choice of new officials reflects a bent toward innovative and agile decision-making in wartime. Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara has front-line special-forces military experience, and Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi is admired for bold battlefield action and his commitment to accountability of military leaders.Some political and military analyses have described the changes as a “silver lining” or a “blessing in disguise.” But that would downplay the vibrant, democratic spark at the heart of Ukrainian society that stays alight even under the stress of war.Ukrainians have repeatedly shown they “can organise rapidly and effectively to secure the reversal or revision of counterproductive leadership decisions,” according to Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.Perhaps more important is how Ukraine’s civil society organizes, as he described on the London think tank’s website Friday: “It unites diverse groups to hold the authorities to account … It is a loyal opposition that criticises but rarely condemns. It is disciplined, peaceful, yet implacable.”Mr. Zelenskyy, employing both pragmatism and compromise, has also demonstrated responsiveness and a degree of humility in reconsidering decisions in the light of public input. He is reportedly working to bring back Mr. Fedorov in a different position.Firing Mr. Fedorov was an “own goal” by the Ukrainian president, in the view of Washington Post columnist Max Boot. But, as he went on to emphasize, Mr. Zelenskyy “did not take the autocrat’s route of using troops to break up the demonstrations or dismissing the protesters as paid agitators or tools of foreign interests.”Collectively, these factors underscore the ability of Ukraine’s citizens to uphold civilian checks and balances even under wartime stresses. And that should help reassure Western allies willing to support Ukraine’s war efforts.“[Ukraine’s] capacity to organise with such dignity in wartime, when grief and anger might be harnessed to destructive effect,” as Mr. Gould-Davies concluded, “attests a maturity that its partners might learn from.”