KYIV, Ukraine, July 23, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Ukraine's ex-defence minister -- whose ousting trigged a week of protests and forced out the country's 
commander-in-chief -- said Thursday he was rejecting offers by President Volodymyr Zelensky for a new role.

The popular reformist Mykhailo Fedorov said he would only accept a return to his old role, where he could combat "corruption", "root out a culture of 
lies" and "complete the army's transformation."

Organisers have urged fresh protests calling for Fedorov to be reinstated after Zelensky unexpectedly removed him from office after just six months in 
the role.

"I will not accept any position other than Minister of Defense," Fedorov said in a statement to reporters.

"No other role carries the actual authority to combat procurement corruption, complete the army's transformation, plan and execute asymmetric operations 
against the enemy, root out a culture of lies and unaccountability within the system," he added.

Zelensky's firing of Fedorov last week plunged Kyiv into its deepest political crisis since Russia invaded in 2022.

Thousands of young people protested across the country against the decision.

Fedorov, 35, was appointed in January on a mandate to modernise and digitise the Ukrainian military.

He was removed after months of behind-the-scenes clashes with the army command, who he said resisted his calls to change.

After days of protest, Zelensky earlier this week fired his commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky, replacing him with Mykhailo Drapaty, an ally of 
Fedorov and fellow reformer.

But Zelensky has appointed a new acting defence minister and refused to offer Fedorov his former role.

Fedorov is a longtime Zelensky ally, having worked with him since he entered the presidency in 2019.

He won admirers inside and outside the military for his early embrace of drones -- long before it was clear that would come to dominate the four-and-
a-half-year war.

He has criticised the army for its Soviet-style approach and not caring enough about human losses and tried to reform a military hit by scandals over 
corruption, equipment shortages, absenteeism, the treatment of conscripts and an unpopular mobilisation drive.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed since Russia invaded in February 2022, in what has become Europe's deadliest conflict since World War 
II.