Many Ukrainian soldiers outraged over removal of defence minister, troops tell BBC

Image source, Olga Ivashchenko/Bloomberg via Getty Images Image caption, Crowds took to the streets of Kyiv on Thursday following the removal of defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov By Paul Adams Diplomatic correspondent , Reporting from Kyiv Published 7 minutes ago "My operation is scheduled for tomorrow," says the disfigured soldier, still recovering from his terrible injuries. "I hope when I wake up after the anaesthetic, Fedorov will be back at the Ministry of Defence," the unnamed soldier says in a video posted on Telegram. "Otherwise, everything I was fighting for will have been in vain." Among Ukraine's battle-weary soldiers and wounded veterans, there's a collective sense of outrage at this week's political developments. President Zelensky's decision not to re-appoint his successful young defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, in his latest cabinet reshuffle, has caused bafflement and fury in equal measure. "It is a blatant slap in the face to all service members," said a soldier we're calling Maryna, to protect her identity. "It is truly difficult to put this into words without venting in frustration." Despite the noisy protests breaking out across Ukraine, Maryna doubts popular anger is going to change anything. "A dictatorship is already unfolding here," she says, "with its own petty tyrants who think they have caught God by the beard." With army chiefs reportedly warning the ranks not to engage in political debate, soldiers are reluctant to speak openly or do so only on condition of strict anonymity. We have given made up names to all those who replied. Another soldier, Natasha, said the protesters with their makeshift cardboard placards, were a long way from the daily brutality of the front line. "Yesterday our positions here got hit by MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems), so nobody cared about Fedorov or the cardboard signs." To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, Watch: 'We believe in Fedorov and his reforms,' one protester said earlier this week following the minister's removal But in the messages we've received, there's clear admiration for what Fedorov has been able to achieve, both as Minister for Digital Transformation and during his brief tenure as Defence Minister. More than anyone, he's identified as the man who has single-mindedly driven innovation in the military, helping to elevate the role of drones and other modern technologies to a point where Ukraine has, in recent months, been able to turn the tide of the war against its much larger enemy. When I met him in Kyiv last summer, Federov described how data was being used to perfect a scheme dubbed "Army of Drones: Bonus" , whereby frontline units could earn points for each Russian soldier killed or piece of equipment destroyed. The scheme was popular, credited with speeding up procurement and driving innovation. Fedorov came across as someone deeply committed to promoting Ukraine's war effort in the mos