标签： Europe

Kyiv, Ukraine — Just one week after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to dismiss popular Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov sparked a domestic political crisis, the country has been thrown into further upheaval, as swirling rumours surrounding the future of Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky have dominated public discourse and protesters issued an ultimatum for dramatic leadership changes by the end of this week.

Organisers of daily demonstrations backing the ousted defence minister have issued a clear, hardline threat: unless Syrsky is removed from his post and Fedorov is reinstated as Defence Minister by Friday, July 24, they will launch an open-ended, nationwide protest that will span every major Ukrainian city. No demonstrations are scheduled ahead of the deadline, leaving the nation on edge as it waits for a resolution to the growing internal rift. Dmytro Koziatynsky, an army veteran representing the protest organisers, outlined the demand in a public post on social media, amplifying pressure on Zelensky’s administration amid already tense public discourse.

Over the weekend, Kyiv was abuzz with unconfirmed reports of closed-door meetings between Zelensky, senior cabinet ministers and top military generals, as the president works through potential adjustments to Ukraine’s defence leadership structure. Amid the flood of speculative reports, Ukraine’s General Staff was forced to publicly issue a denial, pushing back against claims that Syrsky was either on the brink of dismissal or had already been removed from his command. Additional unconfirmed reporting has also suggested that Fedorov has rejected a proposed offer to return to government in a different cabinet role.

In a public appeal to the nation on Tuesday, Kyrylo Budanov, head of the presidential office, urged Ukrainians to set aside their anger and remain calm. “The situation surrounding the latest internal changes has caused strong emotions,” Budanov acknowledged in a social media statement, speaking as angry chants from protesters in Kyiv’s Ivana Franka Square — located just steps from the presidential palace — could be heard echoing through the city centre. “I understand people who express their position… The position of society has been heard.”

Budanov, a former head of Ukrainian military intelligence, also warned demonstrators against turning public anger inward, noting that Russia is closely watching every internal Ukrainian division and waiting for the country to fracture from within. “The enemy is closely monitoring our every internal dispute and is waiting for us to start fighting among ourselves,” he said. “The work is underway. There will be results.”

After days of remaining out of the public eye amid growing criticism, 60-year-old Syrsky broke his silence on Monday, publishing a lengthy op-ed in the Ukrainian outlet Militarny to defend his professional record and push back against claims of a bitter public rift with the 35-year-old Fedorov. Contradicting Zelensky’s recent claim that the two men could not even bear to share a room for official meetings, Syrsky said he was caught off guard by reports of a personal conflict. “I perceived our relationship as a working one,” he wrote. “If I offended anyone, Mykhailo Albertovych [Fedorov], I’m sorry.”

The commander-in-chief pushed back against the simple, slogan-driven demands carried on protest signs across Kyiv, arguing that the complex issues of military contracting, weapons procurement and troop mobilization are far more nuanced than the public discourse suggests. “Decisions on which people’s lives depend are not made with slogans,” he said. “Real work, not the public drama surrounding it, wins the war.” In a thinly veiled rebuke of Fedorov’s high-profile public briefings, Syrsky added: “Presentations should not turn into self-representations. Behind each slide there should be a document, a budget and a procedure. Otherwise, instead of a decision the army gets disappointment.”

Despite Syrsky’s defense, public opinion in Ukraine has largely aligned with Fedorov, particularly among younger Ukrainians, who broadly view the former defence minister as the driving force behind military innovation that has improved Ukraine’s ability to repel Russia’s larger invading force. Many critics also frame Syrsky as a representative of outdated, Soviet-era military doctrine that is ill-suited to the modern, drone-centric battlefield that defines the current war.

“Right now, the war is changing, so we need new ideas and a new structure,” Tetiana Makarenko, a 44-year-old law firm employee, told reporters at a weekend protest. “It’s often said that a small Soviet army can’t defeat a big Soviet army. It’s time to change the mindset and start the new type of war.” During Fedorov’s six-month tenure leading the defence ministry, Ukraine has notched a series of significant military gains, a run of success that many Ukrainians have credited to his leadership. “We had this feeling because we saw the changing situation,” Makarenko said. “We had the feeling that we can do this.”

Syrsky also pushed back against claims that he has resisted embracing modern drone technology, noting he oversaw the creation of a separate branch of the Ukrainian military dedicated to unmanned systems. Even so, he argued that shifting an entire million-strong military to prioritize drones exclusively cannot be accomplished in just two months, and that traditional military capabilities remain critical to Ukraine’s war effort. “I cannot transform a million-strong army to drones in two months and say: now we fight like this,” he explained. “I am not at war with the defence ministry, I am at war with Russia,” he added.

As Syrsky defends his position, speculation is growing about potential candidates to replace him if Zelensky opts for a shake-up. All of the leading names are younger generation officers with distinguished combat records: Mykhailo Drapaty, commander of the Joint Forces; Andriy Bileksky, commander of the Third Army Corps; Oleh Apostol, commander of the Airborne Assault Forces; and Ihor Obolensky, commander of the National Guard Corps. The youngest contender, 35-year-old Brigadier General Denys Prokopenko, commander of the National Guard, gained international fame for leading the Azov Regiment’s legendary defense of Mariupol during the 2022 Russian siege. Prokopenko was held as a Russian prisoner of war after the city fell, but returned to Ukraine in a July 2023 prisoner exchange and resumed his command despite Russian objections. While Prokopenko remains politically controversial due to longstanding allegations of far-right ties to the Azov Regiment, he retains strong popular support among many Ukrainians for his combat leadership.

Zelensky has confirmed that he is still finalizing plans for adjustments to Ukraine’s defence leadership, thanking all parties for their “openness, honesty and substantive contributions” to the discussions. With Russia expected to launch a new campaign of strikes against Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure ahead of the autumn cold, Zelensky has stressed that Ukraine must be fully prepared and as strong as possible when August begins.

For now, the daily protests have paused ahead of the July 24 deadline, leaving the nation holding its breath as Zelensky weighs what many see as a fateful set of decisions that could shape the trajectory of Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.

On Monday, an 82nd anniversary commemoration of the 1944 failed assassination plot against Adolf Hitler turned contentious in Berlin, as a descendant of one of the Nazi regime’s executed resistance activists attempted to remove a floral tribute laid by Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party at the historic execution site.

Tobias Korenke, great-nephew of Dietrich Bonhoeffer—an influential Protestant pastor and theologian who was linked to the plot and executed by the Nazis in 1945—took direct action against the wreath placed by AfD’s federal parliamentary group, according to reporting from Germany’s national news agency dpa. The confrontation quickly drew intervention from on-site security personnel, and the wreath sustained damage during the brief physical scuffle.

In comments following the incident, Korenke made clear the depth of opposition to the far-right party’s participation in the memorial. “Many descendants, myself included, feel really great anger when we see AfD laying wreaths here,” he said. “We will not accept this.”

The confrontation comes as AfD holds growing political influence in modern Germany: the party secured second place in the country’s 2021 national parliamentary election, and currently stands as the largest opposition bloc in the federal legislature. Ahead of regional elections set for September, the party is aiming to win its first ever state governorship, a milestone that would shift the country’s political landscape dramatically. AfD has repeatedly pushed back against widespread accusations that it holds extremist ideological positions.

Per dpa’s reporting, AfD confirmed it had provided the wreath for the official memorial event, though it remained unclear whether any of the party’s representatives were in attendance at the time of the scuffle. AfD legislator Götz Frömming argued that the party has a formal right to participate, noting it is automatically invited to such official events as a seated party in the national parliament.

The July 20, 1944 plot, led by Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, saw the resistance fighter smuggle a briefcase packed with explosives into a military conference with Hitler at the Nazi dictator’s headquarters in what was then East Prussia. The assassination attempt failed only by chance: an attendee unknowingly moved the briefcase to the opposite side of a heavy table leg, which deflected most of the blast and saved Hitler from fatal injury. When word spread that Hitler survived the explosion, the coordinated plot collapsed rapidly. Von Stauffenberg and most of his core co-conspirators were executed by firing squad just hours after the attempt. Bonhoeffer, who had long opposed the Nazi regime and collaborated with the resistance network, was put to death months later in 1945.

The memorial event proceeded as planned after the scuffle, featuring a keynote address from German Education Minister Karin Prien. Perspectives among descendants of the plotters remained divided on AfD’s right to participate: Karl von Stauffenberg, grandson of the plot’s leader, confirmed to Welt television that he believed AfD was seeking to exploit his grandfather’s anti-Nazi legacy for political gain. Even so, he argued that the party should not be barred from laying a wreath, framing the allowance as a core principle of democratic governance. “We are democrats … we must see that we also allow people who think differently to speak,” he said.

LONDON – Just one day after formally entering 10 Downing Street as the United Kingdom’s newest prime minister, Andy Burnham will convene his first full Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, capping a swift reshuffle that cleared most of former leader Keir Starmer’s closest allies from senior government roles.

The former Greater Manchester mayor, who replaced Starmer as head of the ruling Labour Party on Monday, took office as Britain’s seventh prime minister since 2016, marking another period of political upheaval for a nation that has seen constant leadership turnover in less than a decade. Starmer stepped down just two years after securing a landslide general election majority, pushed out by his own party following a string of policy missteps and abrupt policy reversals that eroded his support among lawmakers and the public.

In one of his first policy moves to deliver on his campaign pledge of giving UK households financial “breathing space” amid ongoing cost-of-living pressures, Burnham announced an energy bill tax cut set to take effect on October 1. The measure will save the average household roughly £45 ($60) per year, with funding redirected from a scrapped digital ID card plan initiated under Starmer’s administration.

Outlining his policy agenda in his first address to the nation as prime minister, Burnham pledged to prioritize four core goals: easing persistent cost-of-living strains, decentralizing centralized political power away from Whitehall, revitalizing Britain’s domestic industrial base, and eliminating street homelessness across the country – a sweeping set of promises widely regarded as a formidable policy challenge.

To advance his agenda, Burnham moved quickly to reshape the government in his own political image. Outgoing Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, a key Starmer ally, was replaced by John Healey, a former defense secretary who resigned from the previous Shadow Cabinet in June over what he called the Treasury’s refusal to allocate sufficient funding to the military amid growing global security threats. In comments after his resignation earlier this year, Healey described the Treasury as “a dead hand on dynamic government” that was “in denial” about the need for increased investment. Healey has long called for raising UK defense spending from the planned 2.6% of GDP next year to 3% by 2030, a target he will now be responsible for funding as chancellor.

Wes Streeting, whose May resignation as Starmer’s health secretary helped precipitate the leadership challenge that ousted the former prime minister, will take over Healey’s former defense portfolio. Other key Cabinet appointments include Ed Miliband as foreign secretary, Angela Rayner as housing secretary, and Jonathan Reynolds as business secretary with an expanded remit covering innovation and science. Louise Haigh, a long-time Burnham ally who helped organize his leadership bid, will serve as First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a role that makes her de facto deputy prime minister. Incumbent Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has overseen controversial immigration reduction rules, will retain her position in the new government.

Among the senior Starmer-era officials removed from government are former Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, former Business Secretary Peter Kyle, and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones.

The start of Burnham’s premiership coincided with a reminder of the rising international tensions facing the UK: on the same day Burnham took office, a Russian warship conducted live-fire weapons exercises in the English Channel. Britain’s Ministry of Defense confirmed the Russian frigate Neustrashimy carried out the drills in international waters approximately 46 miles (74 kilometers) south of Plymouth in southwest England, and was continuously shadowed by a Royal Navy vessel.

“The Royal Navy monitored that exercise throughout, continues to track the vessel’s activity closely, and stands ready to protect U.K. national security,” a Ministry of Defense spokesperson said.