The feud between Fedorov and Zelensky has died down. But protests continue in Ukraine

Kyiv. On 28 July, the popular American MAGA influencer Laura Loomer, whilst visiting Ukraine, announced on her X profile the release of a new report. “I have conducted an exclusive interview with the newly appointed Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara,” wrote Loomer, accompanying the post with a photo of the two of them together. The government appointed Khmara as acting Defence Minister on 20 July. The Ukrainian president offered him the post amidst the political scandal that erupted following Mykhailo Fedorov’s resignation as Defence Minister: street protests against this decision have been ongoing for 15 days in various Ukrainian cities.

Previously, Khmara had served as acting head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), and before that he had headed the SBU’s Special Operations Centre ‘A’, which had planned, amongst other things, the well-known Operation Spider’s Web – a series of drone attacks against Russian military airfields. A career military officer, he has received state honours for bravery and meritorious service in combat. Now, however, he finds himself embroiled in political turmoil, a completely new arena for him. Until now, Khmara had avoided the limelight: there is not even any information available about his age or place of birth. For the first time, he told Loomer that he has two children (aged 9 and 11) and that his brother died in the war. For this reason, he said, he has a personal motivation to bring the conflict to an end before his children reach conscription age.

The day after Loomer’s announcement on X, on 29 July, Fedorov gave an interview to Ukrainska Pravda, the country’s most influential political media outlet. He stated that he was ready to return to his post if the president were to offer it to him. “If I were to return to government, I would still need an operational role – and that is the Ministry of Defence,” he said. However, as the Ukrainian Parliament is on its summer recess until 18 August, MPs are currently unable to vote on the appointment of the Defence Minister, whoever Volodymyr Zelensky decides to back. This keeps the uncertainty alive, but experts are convinced that the president has already made his choice. “The president has made his position on Fedorov clear,” political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko tells Il Foglio: “There will be no return to the way things were before, and Fedorov will almost certainly not return to the Ministry of Defence,” he predicts. At the same time, the hour-and-a-half-long interview with Ukrainska Pravda showed that Fedorov, at least for now, does not yet wish to join the opposition or become embroiled in political infighting. “He is more interested in dealing with practical issues related to the war against the enemy than in entering politics,” observes Fesenko. According to the former minister, the decisive meeting with the president on all these issues has not yet taken place. However, he has turned down the post of deputy prime minister for military innovation, as it would not grant him the real power to influence the course of the war.

Meanwhile, Khmara is already in contact with foreign partners. He met with the US representative to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, and spoke via video conference with the British Defence Minister, Wes Streeting. Khmara is also attending the President’s meetings with the new Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Mykhailo Drapaty, who has replaced Oleksandr Syrsky in this role.

The acting Defence Minister has also begun to put together his own team. One of his deputies is Serhij Bojev, who will be responsible for international relations and communication with partners – a role he already held under Fedorov. Another of Khmara’s deputies is Liubov Halan, head of the ‘Princip’ centre for military human rights. “Halan’s appointment is the best news of recent weeks,” wrote Olha Reshetylova, the military ombudsman, on Facebook: “It is difficult to find anyone with a more systematic understanding of human resources issues within the Defence Forces.”

Although the Ministry of Defence led by Khmara is already fully operational, Fedorov’s supporters are not giving up just yet. On Friday evening in Kyiv, they marched with placards from Shevchenko Park to the Ivan Franko Theatre, where demonstrations had previously been held. But Fedorov’s dilemma – having now lost almost any chance of returning to the Ministry of Defence – remains unresolved, first and foremost for himself. “He must decide: to stay in the president’s team, join the opposition, or take a break to define his future political position,” concludes Fesenko.