President Zelensky dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who served six months, as part of a government reshuffle, foreign media reported. Fedorov, who pushed Ukraine's sophisticated drone warfare, has been seen as a key official who turned the battlefield in Ukraine's favor.

As the dismissal became known, more than a thousand citizens gathered in central Kyiv, waving Ukrainian and EU flags in protest. Demonstrators reportedly chanted calls for the minister's return.

Fedorov criticized the country's top general, saying he 'figured out how to divide the country' rather than how to defeat Russia asymmetrically. Liberty Times reported that President Zelensky even hinted at replacing the commander-in-chief.

In the reshuffle, parliament approved Serhii Koretskyi, former CEO of Naftogaz, as the new prime minister, and the head of the SBU security service took over as acting defense minister. How the wartime leadership shake-up affects the war effort draws attention.

Sinophone Bridge Times supports no camp and reports the facts neutrally. The internal conflict and public reaction over a wartime personnel change show that war leaves tension not only at the front but within society.