Ukraine needs changes to avoid losing war, ousted defense minister says

KYIV – Ukraine appears to be slowly losing the war against Russia, ousted Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said, warning that Kyiv has a window of several months to make key decisions needed to turn the tide in its favor. Fedorov, a young reformer whose dismissal last month sparked weeks of protests, said Ukraine lacked any overall vision for how to win the four-year-old conflict, and was hobbled by its failure to innovate. Ingrained corruption and patronage networks, as well as a lack of political independence in government institutions were also holding the country back, he said in an interview.