UKRAINE’S sacked defence minister said on Thursday that he has rejected President Volodymyr Zelensky’s efforts to persuade him to rejoin the government in a different role where he could continue fighting Russia’s more than four-year-old invasion.

Mykhailo Fedorov was sacked last week after just six months in the job.

His departure triggered street protests across Ukraine that have put pressure on Mr Zelensky.

Mr Fedorov said in a statement that leading the Defence Ministry was one of only three jobs that “actually shape the course of the war,” along with the presidency and chief of the armed forces.

He said that he would “not accept any position other than” defence minister, in what amounted to a defiant stance against Mr Zelensky.

The Ukrainian president said earlier on Thursday that he had offered Mr Fedorov the position of deputy prime minister for military innovation.

But Mr Fedorov said: “No other role carries the actual authority to combat procurement corruption, complete the army’s transformation, plan and execute asymmetric operations against the enemy, root out a culture of lies and unaccountability within the system.”

He said he took over last January with a plan to end the war by improving air defences and holding firm on the front line while hurting Russia’s economy through long-range strikes.