MOSCOW: The situation surrounding rallies in Ukraine triggered by the dismissal of Defense Minister Mikhail Fyodorov has demonstrated how ea...
MOSCOW: The situation surrounding rallies in Ukraine triggered by the dismissal of Defense Minister Mikhail Fyodorov has demonstrated how easily those who are behind the ex-minister can organize street protests, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador at Large Rodion Miroshnik said.
"They have demonstrated that they can influence the Ukrainian authorities. All of a sudden, right? There hasn’t been any ‘Maidans’ (the term "Maidan" was coined after Kiev’s central Independence Square, or Maidan Nezalezhnosti, to refer to anti-government riots - TASS) for 12 years, and then, bang, here is a Maidan again. People who, just yesterday, had no idea who Fyodorov is and what sort of a strategy he is promoting, suddenly came up saying: ‘We need Fyodorov and no one else! It’ll be the end for Ukraine without Fyodorov!’ They demonstrated the existence of channels, of a system which, if need be, blocks security forces’ response to civil protests and triggers the protests as such. This mechanism switches on and it is set in motion within a matter of hours. And behind these mechanisms are concrete, quite identifiable people who operate in this field," he told TASS.
On July 14, Fyodorov was removed from the post of the Ukrainian defense minister, partly due to infighting with former Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky. On July 16, protest rallies against Fyodorov’s dismissal started in Ukrainian cities. The protesters gradually began to demand not only the return of Fyodorov, but also the dismissal of Syrsky. On the sixth day of the protests, Zelensky announced firing Syrsky, and later - the appointment of Mikhail Drapaty as Ukraine’s new commander-in-chief, although protesters continue demanding Fyodorov’s reinstation.
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