Episode

Why has Zelenskyy sacked Ukraine’s most senior defence figures?

Podcast
This Is Why
Published
Jul 22, 2026
Duration seconds
1144
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://www.skynews.com
Audio
https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/ad249c5a-f755-4ec4-ada5-3069655b0908.mp3?aw_0_1st.showid=2ca7ec14-a9a8-4a0c-8b24-e04eb2953ca0&aw_0_1st.episodeid=ad249c5a-f755-4ec4-ada5-3069655b0908
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/this-is-why-1011487/episodes/why-has-zelenskyy-sacked-ukraine-s-most-senior-defence-figures
Markdown
/podcast/this-is-why-1011487/why-has-zelenskyy-sacked-ukraine-s-most-senior-defence-figures.md

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Summary

It's not just Andy Burnham who's been purging politicians from government. There's a wartime power struggle in Ukraine, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy ousted his top army commander Oleksandr Syrskyi – before trying to bring the country's former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov back into government, just days after dismissing him. The sacking of Fedorov led to almost a week of nationwide unrest and represents one of the biggest political crises since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. So, what does all this mean for Ukraine's ongoing struggle for survival? Niall Paterson is joined by Sky's military analyst Professor Michael Clarke. Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: [email protected]