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Why is Zelensky firing top leaders as Ukraine’s outlook improves?
The Washington Post ^ | July 22 2026 | David L. Stern, Steve Hendrix and Serhii Korolchuk

Posted on 07/22/2026 7:39:21 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

From the outside, this was shaping up as a strong year for wartime Ukraine.

Ukrainian drones are burning Russia’s refineries and starving occupied Crimea of fuel. Moscow’s summer offensive has stalled on most parts of the front, and Ukraine is taking back territory. In Washington, a president who spent last year berating Kyiv has warmed to it again.

But suddenly last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismantled what looked like a winning team — removing his popular defense minister, his prime minister and, late Tuesday, the acclaimed commander in chief of his armed forces.

Zelensky, the comedian turned president who has won worldwide renown as a wartime leader but also been shadowed by corruption scandals, has explained little beyond announcing a reshuffling of Ukraine’s “political strategy.”

That didn’t satisfy the thousands of Ukrainians — averse to any whiff of public malfeasance — who poured into streets across the country to protest, in particular, the removal of Mykhailo Fedorov, revered by many as a key architect of Ukraine’s breakthrough advances in drone warfare.

The tumult has left Ukrainians to sift through why-now theories of the internal machinations erupting just as Ukraine was gaining ground on Russia. The possible explanations include a generational fight over how to wage a modern war, conflicts over corruption, simmering turf battles between the Defense Ministry and the generals, and a president who is prone to removing subordinates when they grow too popular.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Ukraine
KEYWORDS: 200000deserters; 200000notmrbeanfans; bidensforeverwar; davidlstern; foreigners4bidenbux; leftistsource; mrbeanoncrack; notourwar; putinthewarpig; russiansuicide; russiantrollfarm; sendanothertrillion; serhiikorolchuk; stevehendrix; vladtheimploder; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost; whyareweinvolved; zeepersarerinosdude

1 posted on 07/22/2026 7:39:21 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

The fewer the $lices of the pie, the larger the $lices…


2 posted on 07/22/2026 8:32:08 PM PDT by umbagi (Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it. [Twain])
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To: MinorityRepublican

It’s what Dictators do.


3 posted on 07/22/2026 8:51:47 PM PDT by FlyingEagle
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To: FlyingEagle

a “defending democracy” dictator who suspended elections


4 posted on 07/22/2026 9:13:02 PM PDT by TeleStraightShooter (Spike.S1 *can* get into cell DNA... too many cells = Long Covid/PASC)
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To: umbagi

Agreed. The war may be nearing a conclusion and those actually involved in the Ukie success may want to challenge Zelensky for office. Fire them, marginalize them. You know who Zelensky will become?....Putin.


5 posted on 07/22/2026 9:13:42 PM PDT by xkaydet65 (3)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Letting Defense Minister Fedorov go while keeping General Sirskyi was a blunder. But now that Syrskyi has been replaced with General Drapaty Ukraine has a Commander-in-Chief that is much more in tune with how to fight the war going forward. Sirskyi was a relic of the Soviet era and was ill-equipped to fight the war Ukraine is now waging against Russia.


6 posted on 07/22/2026 9:25:17 PM PDT by AlaskaErik (There are three kinds of rats: Rats, Damned Rats, and DemocRats.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

They are stealing from him, he wants it all.


7 posted on 07/23/2026 3:56:08 AM PDT by yldstrk
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To: TeleStraightShooter
a “defending democracy” dictator who suspended elections

Once again, Ukraine's Constitution FORBIDS elections during martial law.

NOBODY in Ukraine is calling for elections during the war, including two of Zelenky's biggest opponents, which makes sense since Ukraine is fighting for its survival.

Ukraine's Opposition Leaders Reject Holding Wartime Elections - March 06, 2025

Ukrainian opposition leaders Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko have dismissed the possibility of elections in the country during Russia's full-scale invasion after media reports suggested US officials had approached them about the idea.

Poroshenko, a former president, and Tymoshenko, a former prime minister -- the country's most influential opposition figures -- said on March 6 that elections should take place only after peace has been established.

Poroshenko admitted in a written statement published on social media that his team has had contact with US "partners" but that "the essence of our conversations with representatives of the American side has always been reduced to two principles -- security first and peace through strength."

"Our team has always been and is categorically against elections during the war," he added.

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-opposition-elections-poroshenko-zelenskyy/33338598.html

8 posted on 07/23/2026 5:03:55 AM PDT by tlozo (“Russia war-Either money today or blood tomorrow," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk )
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To: AlaskaErik
Sirskyi was a relic of the Soviet era and was ill-equipped to fight the war Ukraine is now waging against Russia.

Yes, Zelensky fired a Soviet era trained general and replaced him with a much younger general (Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43) who rose through the ranks and gained a reputation, fighting the Russians since 2014.

The new commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces forged his reputation fighting Russia in 2014

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military forged his reputation as a daring and determined fighter in the early days of the country's battle against Russia, then spent a decade in combat assignments while steadily rising through the ranks.

9 posted on 07/23/2026 5:18:38 AM PDT by tlozo (“Russia war-Either money today or blood tomorrow," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk )
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To: TeleStraightShooter
a “defending democracy” dictator who suspended elections

The dictator in the defending democracy, happens to be called: the Ukrainian Constitution. How can the constitution be a dictator? Yeah, it's the law of the land and the law rules. Duh!
10 posted on 07/23/2026 11:02:45 AM PDT by adorno ( )
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To: xkaydet65
The war may be nearing a conclusion and those actually involved in the Ukie success may want to challenge Zelensky for office. Fire them, marginalize them. You know who Zelensky will become?

Everyone that was fired or moved to a different position, will still be entitled to run for office, if that's what they wish. Remember that the PEOPLE in Ukraine still have the most power, since it's a democracy.

Zelensky may decide to not run for office, at which time he would become their George Washington. No bigger honor than that. And nothing like a Putin will be allowed anywhere in Ukraine.


11 posted on 07/23/2026 11:07:28 AM PDT by adorno ( )
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To: tlozo

Ukraine is a puppet state of NATO via neocolonialism, dont fool yourself.

NATO call the shots
NATO spent $5Billion to replace Putin’s puppet & they make sure their proxy war against Putin can continue.

Only NATO wants this proxy war to continue, not the Ukrainian ppl who are being used as cannon fodder


12 posted on 07/29/2026 12:09:59 PM PDT by TeleStraightShooter (Spike.S1 *can* get into cell DNA... too many cells = Long Covid/PASC)
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To: TeleStraightShooter
Only NATO wants this proxy war to continue, not the Ukrainian ppl..

LOL, sure its why the Ukrainians are fighting ferociously against the Russian invasion for 1,616 days, longer than WW2.

13 posted on 07/29/2026 3:12:24 PM PDT by tlozo (“Russia war-Either money today or blood tomorrow," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk )
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To: tlozo

you have no idea how the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor impacted the Eastern Ukraine oblasts. they are Russian speakers, no Ukraine


14 posted on 07/29/2026 6:59:40 PM PDT by TeleStraightShooter (Spike.S1 *can* get into cell DNA... too many cells = Long Covid/PASC)
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To: TeleStraightShooter
they are Russian speakers

We speak English, do we want to be under England's rule? Every Russian speaker wants to be under Putin's rule?

Azov Brigade

Most of the unit's members are Russian speakers from Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azov_Brigade

15 posted on 07/30/2026 4:45:27 AM PDT by tlozo (“Russia war-Either money today or blood tomorrow," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk )
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