Ukrainian soldiers criticise removal of popular defence minister - BBC News

Protests erupted in Ukraine on Thursday after Mykhailo Fedorov's removal - and now soldiers are also criticising the move.

Image source, Olga Ivashchenko/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesImage caption, Crowds took to the streets of Kyiv on Thursday following the removal of defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov

"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.