Zelenskyy under growing pressure to reinstate sacked defence minister

Campaigners in Ukraine pledge to continue nationwide protests until Mykhailo Fedorov gets his job back Volodymyr Zelenskyy was under growing pressure to reinstate his sacked defence minister on Wednesday, after campaigners said they would continue indefinite nationwide protests until Mykhailo Fedorov got his job back. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy bowed to public demands by firing Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. He appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new head of the country’s armed forces, as part of a radical reshuffle of the top military command. But Zelenskyy’s attempts to defuse popular anger by offering Fedorov a new government role so far appear to have failed. Fedorov has reportedly turned down the post of deputy prime minister for technological development. Instead, he wants to be reinstated as defence minister, arguing that it is the only way of implementing his ambitious plan for modernising and reforming Ukraine’s army. The post is no longer vacant after Zelenskyy appointed a special forces commander, Yevhenii Khmara, as acting minister. Protesters have called for a rally to be held on Friday evening outside Zelenskyy’s presidential office in Ivana Franka Square,