For the second time in a row, residents of Odessa took to the streets to show their support for Fedorov

Despite the fact that yesterday the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved the new cabinet, residents of Odesa continued to take to the streets to protest the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister. 

Just as on the previous day, the protest was accompanied by an air raid alert and strikes on Odesa. 

During the air raid alert, participants took shelter in underground walkways. Dozens of city residents joined the rally, including representatives of the civic organizations “My City” and “Vyshyvanka Festival,” as well as concerned Odessa residents. Protesters held signs and called on the authorities to reconsider the decision to dismiss the official. According to the organizers, the protest was part of a nationwide wave of demonstrations taking place in variouscities across the country.

It should be noted that the new government was approved without a new defense minister; an acting minister is currently filling the position. Meanwhile, the executive committee of the Izmail City Council in the Odesa region banned local activists from holding a rally against the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov from the post of Minister of Defense of Ukraine. An activist sent a statement to the city council announcing his intention to hold a protest on July 17 to draw public attention to personnel changes in the Ministry of Defense and received a response denying permission.

Thisfollowed a protest bylocalresident Tetyana Gubanova.The activist explained that she did not know where in her city she could hold an organized protest, so she simply went to City Hall on her own with a homemade cardboard sign in support of Fedorov without obtaining permission from City Hall. As the activist told Intent, a man approached her and said he was a city council representative “in charge of public relations,” but he did not give his first or last name and asked for permission to take her picture. He then left, and a minute later, a police patrol arrived at the scene.

Кирило Бойко