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Ukraine dismisses defense minister and military chief amid drone war successes
Ukraine dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and Chief of General Staff Oleksandr Syrskyi amid significant successes in its drone war against Russia. The dismissals are said to stem from a disagreement over the drone strategy.
The Ukrainian army has achieved notable successes recently using unmanned aerial vehicles in its war with Russia. However, amid this successful performance, there was a sudden shake-up in top military and political ranks. Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov was removed from office on July 15, and Chief of General Staff Oleksandr Syrskyi on July 21. The most competent deputies of both figures also left their posts.
Ukraine has replaced defense ministers and chiefs of general staff before, but this was the first comprehensive overhaul carried out simultaneously during the war. Street protests erupted the day after Fedorov's dismissal.
Disagreement over drone strategy
The dismissals are believed to stem from a disagreement over unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strategy. Syrskyi had established the world's first Unmanned Forces Command (SBS) and waged a campaign in which first-person view (FPV) drones caused an estimated 95 percent of enemy casualties. Ukraine's medium- and long-range drones paralyzed Russian logistics and oil supplies, reducing the force deployed to the front.
During his six-month tenure, Fedorov had focused on procuring UAVs; in four months, he purchased more drones than in all of 2025, and even diverted funds from the military salary budget to boost orders. However, Syrskyi opposed this approach in an article published on the Militarnyi news site: "We face an enemy that is superior in every way, fighting especially with artillery, aviation, and infantry. I cannot say that we transferred a one-million-man army to drones in two months and now we are fighting like this."
In the same article, Syrskyi stated that the defense minister should not be a war strategist, and that he, as required by law, was responsible to the Commander-in-Chief for strategy and operational planning.
Impact of Ukraine's drone strikes
By using short-range drones on the battlefield, Ukraine reduced its own losses and halted the Russian advance. In May, Syrskyi announced that Ukraine had gained more territory than it lost. During this period, Ukraine began striking Russia's overland logistics route to the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. By late May, logistics in eastern Luhansk and Donetsk were also disrupted; Russia was forced to transport fuel and supplies to Crimea via the Sea of Azov. Ukraine also targeted these vessels.
Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces Robert Brovdi announced that since June 6, they had disabled 196 fuel tankers and destroyed three-quarters of the ferry capacity in the Kerch Strait. Brovdi said that Russia had to pull 200 elements from its own unmanned forces unit, Rubicon, behind the front line to protect ships, which weakened the front.
In July, the SBS also struck 117 electricity substations and power plants, most of them in Crimea, plunging large parts of the peninsula into darkness. Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said that Russian maritime transport was paralyzed in the Sea of Azov, and that the Kerch Bridge had been left standing 'so that Russians could leave Ukrainian Crimea,' because this would reduce Ukrainian casualties in any future operations in Crimea.
Ukraine's long-range strikes this week destroyed a Tu-95 strategic bomber at Engels airbase and a MiG-29 fighter jet at the Khalino airbase in Kursk. It also hit the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in Yaroslavl and four warehouses of the Wildberries online retail group, where Russian soldiers are suspected of having ordered protective equipment and weapons.
Russia's counter moves and economic situation
In July, Russia targeted Ukraine's Black Sea port infrastructure in an attempt to disrupt grain exports. On July 22, shipping giant Maersk announced it was rerouting container traffic destined for Odesa or Chornomorsk to Romania's port of Constanta. In response, Ukraine claimed it had blocked grain shipments traveling via the Don River to the Sea of Azov, through which 30 percent of Russia's grain is exported.
Russia also stepped up its use of ballistic missiles in nighttime attacks. Since June 26, Russia has included missiles in almost every attack, whereas previously it conserved missiles for one major combined strike per week. Ukraine states that it can intercept 95 percent of drones and 87 percent of cruise missiles, but less than half of Russian ballistic missiles. According to an analysis by Militarnyi, Russia used more missiles in the first two weeks of July than its monthly production capacity, drawing on its stockpiles.
Meanwhile, Russia's war economy has also stagnated. Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that the economy, which boomed in 2022-24, grew by only 0.2 percent this year. According to Ukraine's Defense Ministry, Russia lost 193,500 troops (killed or seriously wounded) in 2026, reaching an average monthly loss of 32,000 for the first time. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that despite these losses, Russia gained only 81.1 square kilometers net territory over the year, and that the balance of gains and losses had shifted in Ukraine's favor. After gaining just 30 square kilometers in June, Russia suffered a net loss of 1.6 square kilometers per day in July.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement in July that 'the sky will be decisive in this war,' and stressed that adjustments to the defense strategy were necessary. Following the dismissals, Zelensky said, 'I continue to determine what adjustments need to be made to Ukraine's defense strategy and which priorities in military production and procurement must be implemented most quickly.'
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