Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly described his rift with dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov for the first time, saying he believes several of Fedorov’s recent moves — including participation in mass protests and calls for an election — were ill-advised.
Zelensky also pointed to concerns over defense-spending decisions and suggested that flawed information from the Defense Ministry helped set the stage for an uncomfortable exchange with US President Donald Trump about the use of Starlink in Russia.
The president released figures underscoring Ukraine’s worsening shortage of Patriot air-defense missiles, a critical tool against Russian ballistic strikes. According to Zelensky, Western deliveries have fallen over the past three years even as Moscow has stepped up missile attacks.
At the same time, Zelensky emphasized recent gains on the battlefield, saying Ukrainian troops have nearly fully retaken the Dnipropetrovsk region, with only roughly 4 square miles still under Russian control.
Zelensky made the remarks during a two-hour off-the-record briefing with journalists on Saturday. A transcript of the discussion was made public on Sunday.
Zelensky’s first public comments on Fedorov dismissal
The conversation covered a wide range of issues, from the latest military developments and Ukraine’s efforts to blunt Russian ballistic attacks to peace talks, budget pressures and the political fallout from Fedorov’s removal.
“I really had and still have a very positive attitude toward Mykhailo. We have been through a lot together. But I believe that he himself goes, or is pushed, into the wrong things,” Zelensky said.
Fedorov, a high-profile minister widely credited with helping modernize Ukraine’s armed forces and speed up the military’s adoption of technology and drone warfare, was dismissed last month after reportedly clashing with the country’s top military commander.
His removal triggered mass protests that lasted for weeks, but ultimately failed to force a reversal of the decision. Fedorov later called for an election.
Zelensky said that he had offered Fedorov four different options to continue working in the government. Fedorov, he said, rejected all of them.
The Ukrainian leader told journalists that he believes holding an election during the war would be a huge risk with the potential to “split Ukraine apart.”
“I believe elections during a war like this would generally pose enormous risks. Holding elections right now would be a tsunami for the state that would split Ukraine apart,” he said.
Zelensky said he had previously faced pressure to hold an election during the war, but no partners had come up with a plan for how a poll could be held safely, legitimately and democratically.
Inaccurate information led to uncomfortable White House encounter
Zelensky appeared to link Fedorov to an awkward episode involving Starlink and Elon Musk.
Zelensky said that earlier this year, the Defense Ministry had told him that SpaceX had agreed to allow Ukraine to use Starlink over Russian territory to carry out deep strike operations, subject to political approval.
Acting on that, Zelensky said, he raised the issue directly with US President Donald Trump. He told Trump that Musk had confirmed the proposed use. Zelensky said the two sides subsequently sought Musk’s confirmation and discussed financing for the project.
But at a later meeting, Zelensky said that Trump told him that Musk had rejected the proposal and accused him of having misled the US president. Musk considered the move a dangerous escalation, according to Zelensky.
“He said that I had supposedly deceived him, because Musk had denied Ukraine the use of Starlink on Russian territory. I went back to our Ministry of Defense and they said that maybe it was so,” he said.
Zelensky didn’t explicitly accuse Fedorov of lying. He said that the situation was among the reasons behind “some of the steps.”
Zelensky also pushed back against protesters’ vilification of former army chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, who he dismissed, and current Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Yevhen Khmara, saying they had gone too far.
“Maybe someone doesn’t like Syrskyi for one reason or another. But the slogans ‘Syrskyi is the devil, Khmara is the devil,’” he said. “Listen, this is too much. Do you understand? In principle, you can’t treat the military like this and tolerate it, especially when it was the military that made it possible for any peaceful protests to take place in the Ukrainian capital at all.”
Pressure on defense budget but military successes
Zelenskyy also described severe financial pressure on Ukraine’s defense effort. He said that the Defense Ministry faced a $27 billion budget shortfall after spending decisions earlier in the year brought forward funds originally intended for the second half of this year.
Touching on a corruption inquiry that led Zelensky to fire one of his most senior officials this week, he said that anti-corruption investigators don’t believe that the president was involved.
The investigators had named a deputy head of the presidential office among the suspects in a money-laundering case.
“The heads of anti-corruption agencies have zero questions for me. They understand perfectly well that I am not involved in anything like that. And this is important to me,” he said.
On the battlefield, Zelensky was optimistic.
In addition to Ukraine almost completely regaining control of the Dnipropetrovsk region, he said that another operation was underway elsewhere and that its results were expected by the end of August.
He also predicted that by the end of the year, Ukraine could reach parity between the territory occupied by Russia since the beginning of the year and the territory retaken by Ukrainian forces.
Zelensky said that Russia had occupied about 380 square miles since the start of the year, while Ukraine had restored control over roughly 315 square miles.
The president said that Russia’s principal objective remained the Konstantynivka-Sloviansk-Kramatorsk axis, and that Moscow was still demanding that Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas region as a condition for a settlement.
Still struggling for access to Patriot missiles
Zelensky said that Ukraine was receiving substantially fewer Patriot interceptor missiles even as Russian ballistic attacks are increasing.
He said that Ukraine received 675 Patriot missiles in 2023, compared with 364 in 2025 and an expected 264 this year. Zelensky said that he wanted to secure 300 additional Patriot missiles for the coming winter, while Ukraine’s air force had requested 360.
The shortfall is particularly serious, because the United States and European partners are struggling to expand production. Zelensky said that he hoped Ukraine could obtain even 5% or 10% of US reserves and was able to pay for them.
Zelensky said that Russia could eventually produce up to 1,300 ballistic missiles a year, compared with an estimated current capacity of 600.
He said that Ukraine was also preparing alternatives to Starlink, including a European communications project, as Russia and China work on their own competing system.
