Could Ukraine's Mykhailo Fedorov challenge Zelenskyy?

Deutsche Welle · 🇩🇪 public Germany · Aug 23, 2026 · 1010 words · By Lilia Rzheutska

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What to know about Could Ukraine's Mykhailo Fedorov challenge Zelenskyy?

Deutsche Welle reports: Could Ukraine's Mykhailo Fedorov challenge Zelenskyy?.

Claims checked 12

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Deutsche Welle reports: Could Ukraine's Mykhailo Fedorov challenge Zelenskyy?.

Why it matters

August 23, 2026 This past week, Ukraine was rocked by a series of political scandals.

Common ground

A month after stepping down as defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov addressed the Ukrainian people in a nine-minute speech posted on his YouTube channel.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Could Ukraine's Mykhailo Fedorov challenge Zelenskyy??
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that On August 19, Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators searched the premises of several high-ranking officials, including a presidential deputy chief of staff, Iryna Mudra, and a member of parliament, Vadym Stolar?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-zelenskyy-fedorov-defense-minister-dispute/a-78469…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7

schedule Pending 2

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified Verified 1

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “On August 19, Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators searched the premises of several high-ranking officials, including a presidential deputy chief of staff, Iryna Mudra, and a member of parliament, Vadym Stolar.”

CORROBORATED

The searches of Iryna Mudra and Vadym Stolar on August 19 are reported by Deutsche Welle and multiple independent web search results.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Міністерство юстиції України, romanized: Ministerstvo yustytsiyi Ukrayiny), abbr. Мінюст [України], Minjust [of Ukraine], is the main body in the system…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Justice_(Ukraine)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Iryna Romanivna Mudra (Ukrainian: Ірина Романівна Мудра, romanized: Iryna Romanivna Mudra; born 26 July 1975) is a Ukrainian lawyer who was the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, r…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iryna_Mudra

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mark Steven Ellis (born April 19, 1957) is an international criminal law attorney and the executive director of the International Bar Association. He has been admitted as a Fellow to King's College Lo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ellis_(lawyer)

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “According to polls conducted by the Rating opinion research institute on July 20 and 21, trust in the ex-minister rose from 35% to 65% in the first week of the protests.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results or cross-references regarding polls by the Rating opinion research institute on July 20-21 concerning trust in Mykhailo Fedorov.

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Claim 3: “Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Mudra from her post as presidential deputy chief of staff the same day.”

CORROBORATED

The dismissal of Iryna Mudra on August 19 is confirmed by Deutsche Welle and multiple web search results, including a reference to Decree No. 734.

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web search NEUTRAL — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Presidential Office deputy head Iryna Mudra on August 19, as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s O…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVq-vvjTYXg

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web search NEUTRAL — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Deputy Head of the President's Office Iryna Mudra.This is stated in Decree No. 734 of August 19, Ukrainian News.
https://ukranews.com/en/news/1169731-zelenskyy-dismisses-pre…

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web search NEUTRAL — On August 19, Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators searched the premises of several high-ranking officials, including a presidential deputy chief of staff, Iryna Mudra, and a member of parliament, …
https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-zelenskyy-fedorov-defense-mini…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 4: “The president dismissed Fedorov from his post as defense minister on July 15.”

CORROBORATED

The dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov on July 15 is reported by Deutsche Welle and confirmed by Wikipedia and other news sources.

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web search NEUTRAL — Mykhailo Albertovych Fedorov is a Ukrainian politician who served as the Minister of Defence of Ukraine from January to July 2026, when he was dismissed from office by President Zelenskyy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykhailo_Fedorov

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web search NEUTRAL — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Mykhailo Fedorov as defence minister as part of his latest government reshuffle, Fedorov confirmed on Wednesday.
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/07/15/zelenskyy-dism…

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web search NEUTRAL — Zelenskyy dismisses Ukraine’s popular Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.2. Took over a Ministry of Defense with zero budget, took a risk, reallocated funds from payroll from pic.x.com/18B5QQaeqL.
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZj…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 5: “A month after stepping down as defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov addressed the Ukrainian people in a nine-minute speech posted on his YouTube channel.”

CORROBORATED

The claim is reported by Deutsche Welle and corroborated by multiple web search results mentioning Fedorov's nine-minute YouTube address following his departure as defense minister.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — From 22 to 31 July 2025, Ukrainians gathered in Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Dnipro and other cities to protest the passing of a bill that aimed to "effectively destroy" the power of two of Ukraine's anti-corru…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_anti-corruption_protests_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Oleksandr Stanislavovych Syrskyi (Ukrainian: Олександр Станіславович Сирський; born 26 July 1965) is a Ukrainian military officer holding the rank of four-star general who served as the Commander-in-C…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleksandr_Syrskyi

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Protests against the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov, sometimes called the pro-Fedorov protests, began on 15 July 2026 after Mykhailo Fedorov, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, was dismissed from his …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_dismissal…

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “Of the respondents, 72% thought Fedorov should not have been sacked.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 7: “the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had proposed Yevhenii Khmara to parliament as the new defense minister.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources, including Deutsche Welle and specific news reports, confirm that President Zelenskyy proposed Yevhenii Khmara to parliament as the new defense minister.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Голова Служби безпеки України, romanized: Holova Sluzhby bezpeky Ukrainy) serves as the director of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_the_Security_Service_o…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Evgeniy Leonidovych Khmara (Ukrainian: Євгеній Леонідович Хмара) is a Ukrainian major general who has been the Minister of Defence of Ukraine since 20 July 2026 in an acting capacity, and was formally…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevhenii_Khmara

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “no national elections have been held in Ukraine since 2019”

VERIFIED

Deutsche Welle reports this, and general knowledge of the Russo-Ukrainian war (supported by Wikipedia and BBC references) confirms that national elections have been postponed due to martial law since 2019.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Russo-Ukrainian war began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia occupied Crimea and annexed it from Ukraine. It then supported Russian separatist armed…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_war

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the existing war between the two countries that began when Ru…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_war_(2022–pres…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the north; Poland and Slova…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 9: “Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) stated that it was "conducting a special operation to expose a criminal organization" in conjunction with the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.”

CORROBORATED

The statement regarding the special operation by NABU and SAPO to expose a criminal organization is confirmed by Deutsche Welle and multiple independent news reports.

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web search NEUTRAL — The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) are conducting a special operation to expose a criminal organization that operated under the l…
https://ukranews.com/en/news/1169671-nabu-and-sapo-conductin…

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web search NEUTRAL — The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said they were conducting a “special operation to expose a criminal organization he…
https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/09/04/ukraine-s-anti-corrupti…

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web search NEUTRAL — Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) are conducting a special operation to expose a criminal organization allegedly led by an…
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/83793

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 10: “Khmara had been made acting minister of defense on July 20, and parliament confirmed him in the position on August 19.”

CORROBORATED

The timeline of Yevhenii Khmara becoming acting minister on July 20 and being confirmed on August 19 is corroborated by Deutsche Welle, Wikipedia's list of ministers of defence, and other news reports.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This timeline of the Russo-Ukrainian war covers the period from 1 June to 31 August 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Russo-Ukrainia…

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+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 11: “A poll conducted on August 5 and 6 showed Fedorov in third place in the presidential ratings, on 12.5%. Volodymyr Zelenskyy led with 25.2%, followed by Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, on 16.7%.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 12: “Protests calling for his reinstatement began the following day in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and other cities.”

SINGLE SOURCE

Only Deutsche Welle reports the specific list of cities where protests for Fedorov's reinstatement began on July 16. No other independent sources in the provided evidence corroborate these specific protests.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — Protests calling for his reinstatement began the following day in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and other cities.
https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-zelenskyy-fedorov-defense-mini…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.