Zelensky speaks out about dismissed defence minister for first time

Open this photo in gallery:Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8.Alex Brandon/The Associated PressUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believes actions taken by dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, including his involvement in mass protests and calls for elections, were misguided, as he publicly detailed their dispute for the first time.Zelensky also alluded to problematic decisions over defence spending and said inaccurate information provided by the Defense Ministry contributed to an awkward encounter with U.S. President Donald Trump over the use of Starlink in Russia.Zelensky disclosed figures showing Ukraine’s growing shortage of Patriot air-defence missiles needed to counter Russian ballistic attacks, with deliveries from Western allies declining in the past three years even as Russian missile strikes intensified.He highlighted battlefield gains, however, saying Ukrainian forces have almost completely recaptured the Dnipropetrovsk region, with only about 10 square kilometres remaining under Russian control.He made the remarks during a two-hour off-the-record meeting with reporters on Saturday, with a transcript released publicly on Sunday.Opinion: Ukrainians see a different Zelensky – one who needs to be reformedHis comments ranged widely, covering the latest battlefield developments, efforts to counter Russian ballistic attacks, the state of peace negotiations, Ukraine’s budgetary challenges and the political turmoil surrounding Fedorov’s dismissal.“I really had and still have a very positive attitude toward Mykhailo. We have been through a lot together. But I believe that he himself goes, or is pushed, into the wrong things,” he said.Fedorov, a popular minister credited with modernizing Ukraine’s armed forces and accelerating the military’s embrace of technology and drone warfare, was dismissed last month after reportedly falling out with the country’s top military commander. His removal triggered mass protests that lasted for weeks but ultimately failed to force a reversal of the decision. Fedorov later called for elections in a video address.Zelensky said he had offered Fedorov four different options to continue working in government. Fedorov, he said, rejected all four proposals.The Ukrainian leader told journalists that he believes holding an election during the war would be a huge risk with potential to “split Ukraine apart.”“I believe elections during a war like this would generally pose enormous risks. Holding elections right now would be a tsunami for the state that would split Ukraine apart,” he said.Zelensky said he had previously faced pressure to hold elections during the war but no partners had come up with a plan for how a poll could be held safely, legitimately and democratically.Can Ukraine hold elections while at war?Zelensky appeared to link Fedorov to an awkward episode involving Starlink and Elon Musk. Zelensky said that earlier this year the Defense Ministry had told him that SpaceX had agreed to allow Ukraine to use Starlink over Russian territory to carry out deep strike operations, subject to political approval.Acting on that, Zelensky said, he raised the issue directly with U.S. President Donald Trump. He told Trump that Musk had confirmed the proposed use. Zelensky said the two sides subsequently sought Musk’s confirmation and discussed financing for the project.But at a later meeting, Zelensky said Trump told him that Musk had rejected the proposal and accused him of having misled the U.S. president. Musk considered the move a dangerous escalation, according to Zelensky.“He said that I had supposedly deceived him because Musk had denied Ukraine the use of Starlink on Russian territory. I went back to our Ministry of Defense and they said that maybe it was so,” he said.Zelensky did not explicitly accuse Fedorov of lying. He said this episode was among the reasons behind “some of the steps.”Zelensky also pushed back against protesters’ vilification of former army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, whom he dismissed, and current Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Yevhen Khmara, saying they had gone too far.“Maybe someone doesn’t like Syrskyi for one reason or another. But the slogans ‘Syrskyi is the devil, Khmara is the devil,’” he said. “Listen, this is too much. Do you understand? In principle, you can’t treat the military like this and tolerate it, especially when it was the military that made it possible for any peaceful protests to take place in the Ukrainian capital at all.”Zelensky fires top aide as office faces graft probeThe president also described severe financial pressure on Ukraine’s defence effort. He said the Defense Ministry faced a US$27-billion budget shortfall after spending decisions earlier in the year brought forward funds originally intended for the second half of 2026.Touching on a corruption probe that led Zelensky to fire one of his most senior officials this week, he said anti-corruption investigators do not believe the president was involved. The investigators had named a deputy head of the presidential office among the suspects in a money-laundering case.“The heads of anti-corruption agencies have zero questions for me. They understand perfectly well that I am not involved in anything like that. And this is important to me,” he said.On the battlefield, Zelensky was optimistic, saying Ukraine had almost completely regained control of the Dnipropetrovsk region, with only about 10 square kilometres and three small villages remaining outside Ukrainian control.He said another operation was under way elsewhere and that its results were expected by the end of August.He also predicted that by the end of 2026 Ukraine could reach parity between the territory occupied by Russia since the beginning of the year and the territory retaken by Ukrainian forces. Zelensky said Russia had occupied about 990 square kilometres since the start of the year, while Ukraine had restored control over roughly 820 square kilometres.The president said Russia’s principal objective remained the Konstantynivka-Sloviansk-Kramatorsk axis and that Moscow was still demanding Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas region as a condition for a settlement.Ukraine’s former defence minister calls for wartime electionsZelensky said Ukraine was receiving substantially fewer Patriot interceptor missiles even as Russian ballistic attacks are increasing.He said Ukraine received 675 Patriot missiles in 2023, compared with 364 in 2025 and an expected 264 in 2026. Zelensky said he wanted to secure 300 additional Patriot missiles for the coming winter, while Ukraine’s Air Force had requested 360.The shortfall is particularly serious because the United States and European partners are struggling to expand production. Zelensky said he hoped Ukraine could obtain even 5 per cent or 10 per cent of U.S. reserves and was able to pay for them.Zelensky said Russia could eventually produce up to 1,300 ballistic missiles a year, compared with an estimated current capacity of 600.He said Ukraine was also preparing alternatives to Starlink, including a European communications project, as Russia and China work on their own competing system.