Ukraine Was on a Roll. Then a Clash Over War Strategy Exploded Into View.
From an underground parking garage, Ukraine’s newly dismissed defense minister aired the most dramatic, public critique of the military command to emerge during the war. Mykhailo Fedorov, the former minister of defense, speaking in Kyiv on Thursday. Credit... Jędrzej Nowicki for The New York Times By Andrew E. Kramer Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine The New York Times , July 16, 2026, 4:02 p.m. ET For President Volodymyr Zelensky, a long string of political and battlefield setbacks had by this summer seemed to fade into the rearview mirror. Ukraine, through the grit of its soldiers and the innovation of its engineers, entered a winning streak. What snapped it was not a fearsome Russian offensive or another unraveling of relations with President Trump. Instead, it was an outbreak of political infighting, which culminated with Mr. Zelensky’s dismissal on Wednesday of a popular, youthful defense minister who championed the innovations of drone warfare. The minister, Mykhailo Fedoro...