President Volodymyr ​Zelenskyy moved to extinguish a political crisis on Thursday sparked by his dismissal of a popular defense minister, tapping a security official who has overseen Ukraine's long-range strikes against Russia for the post.

Rare protests had erupted in Ukraine over the ouster ⁠of Mykhailo Fedorov in a surprise government reshuffle. The dismissal brought into the ⁠open a dispute between the vigorous modernizer and Kyiv's top general during the president's second shakeup in a year.

Hundreds of people took to the streets in the capital Kyiv and other cities to demand Fedorov, who has aimed to reshape Kyiv's outmanned army into a more efficient fighting force against ​Russia, be reappointed. A senior commander of Kyiv's air war had also resigned.

In a statement, Zelenskyy said he ​was ⁠appointing Maj. Gen. Yevhen Khmara as acting defense minister and would ask parliament to approve him permanently for the post.

Since January, Khmara has been acting head of the state's security service, known as the SBU. He had previously led the SBU's elite Alpha special forces unit.

"Yevhen Khmara has gained extensive and, in many respects, unprecedented experience with technological combat operations," Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform X.

"This is exactly where our defense efforts should be focused during this war."

Ukraine's long-range strikes on Russia's oil infrastructure and defense industry have helped weaken Moscow's war machine in recent months, boosting Ukrainian morale at a critical moment in the more than four-year war.

The SBU's Alpha team, which Khmara had previously led, has played a leading role in those attacks and other major operations.

It was not immediately clear when parliament – which had greenlit a new government under energy executive Serhii Koretskyi earlier on Thursday – would consider Khmara's appointment. The next session is scheduled for Aug. 18.

Fedorov accuses army chief of splitting country

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, the 35-year-old Fedorov said on Thursday he had declined an offer from Zelenskyy to serve as an adviser after the president refused to include him in the next government.

In a scathing attack, Fedorov accused Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine's armed forces, of blocking ministry initiatives and failing to address problems directly.

"Instead of ⁠working ⁠out how to defeat Russia... he has figured out how to split the country," he said, dressed in his trademark casual T-shirt and jeans.

Syrskyi, 60, has been in his post since early 2024 but has faced criticism for a rigid command style, which some service members have said results in high troop losses.

In a statement, Syrskyi called for focusing on Ukraine's war effort and recalled his role in helping defend Kyiv from Russian forces in the first weeks of their 2022 invasion.

"And now in this city, briefings can be held, visions can be developed, and decisions can be made," he said, appearing to mock Fedorov's press conference hours earlier.

Earlier on Thursday, Zelenskyy said he was still considering who would replace Fedorov, adding that outgoing Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko was only one of the candidates under discussion and that he would look into the matter again.

"I would very much like unity," he told reporters in Kyiv, appearing flustered. "The sides did not find ⁠it."

Drone warfare leader resigns in response

Ukraine is in its best battlefield position since late 2022, gaining new battlefield momentum while striking Russia's oil sector and military logistics in drone and missile attacks.

Despite those gains, Kyiv's forces still face grinding Russian advances in the east amid a critical shortage of ground troops, as well as a lack of air defenses as Moscow steps up strikes with ballistic ​missiles.

Pavlo Yelizarov, a deputy commander of Ukraine's air force and a key leader in drone warfare, said he was stepping down in response to Fedorov's dismissal.

A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters the Kremlin was monitoring the reshuffle.

Zelenskyy says government needs renewal

Fedorov, who had previously served as Ukraine's first digital transformation minister, ​has been credited with cutting bureaucracy, boosting drone warfare and ⁠pursuing a data-driven strategy to exhaust Russian forces.

But supporters say his attempts to clean up defense procurement have angered parts of ⁠the establishment. He has also been criticized for failing to deliver quickly enough on his pledge to reform recruitment.

Zelenskyy announced his latest shakeup to widespread shock on Sunday, ⁠arguing the government and law enforcement agencies needed "renewal."

Koretskyi, ​in a post on X, said his government's main task would be to "fully equip" the army with a range of drones, scale up Ukraine's defense sector, as well as prepare for another winter of Russian strikes on the power grid.