Mr Fedorov’s six-month tenure as defence chief was marked by a push to modernise Ukraine’s armed forces through technology and reform military procurement in an attempt to address corruption.
The decision to remove him was followed by countrywide protests, but demonstrators’ demands later shifted to calling for the dismissal of Oleksandr Syrskyi, the controversial army commander-in-chief with whom Mr Fedorov had clashed.
Mr Zelensky ceded to the public outcry on July 21, dismissing the 60-year-old general – who had led the military since 2024 – but he refused to reinstate his reforming ex-defence minister, replacing him in an interim capacity with Maj Gen Khmara.
The Ukrainian parliament entered a month-long recess and reconvened on Tuesday, when Mr Zelensky told deputies he had formally nominated the SBU official as Mr Fedorov’s successor. Deputies were due to vote on that nomination on Wednesday.
Although Mr Fedorov was dismissed more than a month ago, protests in his support have continued to gather pace this month. A demonstration in the centre of Kyiv on Sunday drew thousands of his supporters and lasted several hours.
Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a war veteran who has spearheaded the protests, said the aim was to “remind the president that … the president himself must bear responsibility for the consequences of all questionable personnel decisions”.