Russian Senator Claims Western Support for Ukrainian Protests Over Fedorov’s Dismissal

Dragon Media News Desk

Russian Senator Alexander Voloshin has claimed that protests in Ukraine following the dismissal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov were supported by Western countries.

Speaking to the Russian news agency TASS, Voloshin, who represents the Donetsk People’s Republic in Russia’s Federation Council, said European powers had backed the demonstrations to signal their disagreement with the decision to remove Fedorov.

According to Voloshin, the protests demonstrated that European actors had neither approved nor authorised the Ukrainian leadership’s decision. However, he did not present evidence showing that Western governments had directly supported the demonstrations.

Protests reportedly took place in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Lviv after President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Fedorov as defence minister. Demonstrators called for his reinstatement and changes within the current military leadership.

Fedorov had been viewed as a prominent figure in Ukraine’s drone warfare strategy, digital military systems and defence procurement reforms. His dismissal has exposed disagreements between supporters of technology-driven military reform and more traditional elements of the country’s defence establishment.

It has not been independently established whether the demonstrations were entirely driven by domestic dissatisfaction or received any form of external political support.

The allegation of Western involvement should therefore be understood as a political assessment by the Russian senator rather than a verified fact.