19 July 2026
(Photo: Intent)
On Sunday, July 19, residents of Odesa took to the streets for the fourth consecutive day to protest the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister. The protesters have no plans to stop.
An Intenta photojournalist was present at the protest.
Since early morning, Russian occupiers have been launching missile and drone strikes on Odesa, with air raid sirens and explosions ringing out constantly.
However, this did not prevent the city’s residents from taking to the streets for yet another rally in support of Fedorov, whom Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed from his post just as the upper hand on the battlefield had allegedly shifted to Ukraine.
As in the previous three days, people once again gathered on Deribasovskaya Street near the City Garden.
Protesters are calling on the authorities to reinstate Mykhailo Fedorov as defense minister and to dismiss Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Despite the tension, the mood among the crowd is upbeat and even lighthearted. Protesters organized the distribution of “spiked oranges” and candy.
“Spiked oranges” is a meme that originated during the Orange Revolution, when Lyudmyla Yanukovych claimed that people on the Maidan were being given citrus fruits “spiked” with psychotropic substances that were supposedly forcing them to protest.
Protesters chanted “Shame,” “Change or Perish,” and other slogans.
Among the participants was a female soldier with the call sign “Kizlev.” She stated that she supports such protests because, in her opinion, civilians should represent the voice of the military personnel who are currently on the front lines and cannot publicly express their views.
According to her, citizens have long played an important role in social change, and the current protests are not a sign of disrespect toward the Armed Forces of Ukraine; on the contrary, they demonstrate support for the military and society’s right to express its own opinion.
Ірина Глухова