Mykhailo Fedorov was not reappointed to the post of Defense Minister following a cabinet reshuffle (Photo: FEDOROV via Telegram)
Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, shared a summary of what his team had accomplished over his six-month tenure in the role, in a new post on Telegram on July 15.
“It was a great honor to serve the Ukrainian people in the role of defense minister,” Fedorov wrote, listing off 22 goals that his team had achieved during his time in the role.
These include shutting off Russian access to the Starlink satellite internet system, increasing drone production, and increasing pay rates for soldiers.
“[We] radically overhauled the procurement system, launching the first tenders for long-range artillery and hundreds of thousands of drones, saving the state budget billions of dollars,” the outgoing minister noted, adding that his team had also managed to “buy thousands of pickups, buggies and ATVs for the military through a tender for the first time.”
In a separate post, Fedorov detailed what his team “did not manage to do”:
1. Complete the organizational transformation of the Defense Ministry to NATO standards and common sense.
“We launched the new structure, dismissed many people and started many processes,” he explained.
“But we needed to be even more decisive in firing the people who were holding back change.”
2. Move absolutely all procurement to tenders.
3. Build a culture of accountability for the decisions taken.
“Thank you to each and every person who defends Ukraine and works for victory,” Fedorov stated.
“Thank you to my entire team for their effective 24/7 service. A special thank you to my family for their patience. Thank you all for your support. I will keep working for the mission I came to the Defense Ministry with — to defeat the enemy through asymmetry, the speed of innovation and the strength of organization.”
Earlier, reports indicated that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had offered the job of leading the Defense Ministry to Ihor Klymenko, who previously headed the Interior Ministry.
MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, writing on his Telegram channel, reported that Fedorov would not be given a different position in the upcoming cabinet. Zelenskyy, when asked about Fedorov’s future in government during a meeting with his party’s parliamentary faction, stated that the outgoing minister would “be somewhere nearby.”
The MP added in a later post that “Zelenskyy said that he could not choose between [Ukrainian top general Oleksandr] Syrskyi, and said that the latter had failed [mobilization] reform.”
NV’s sister publication, Ukrainska Pravda, citing sources in the government, reported that during conversations on July 11 and 12, Fedorov was offered a chance to lead the new government, but he declined, saying that he had only joined the defense ministry recently, and was still in the middle of implementing his own vision for reform.
As recently as midday on July 15, Zelenskyy said he had not yet decided whether Fedorov would be defense minister in the new government.
Svyrydenko’s resignation and the Cabinet reshuffle — what’s known
Zelenskyy said on July 12 that there would be changes in the government and offered Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko a different post. Svyrydenko confirmed she would leave the premiership.
Zheleznyak wrote that the candidates for prime minister could be current Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov and Naftogaz board chairman Serhiy Koretskyi. Zheleznyak and several outlets later reported that Koretskyi was the main contender to head the new Cabinet.
On July 14, Parliament dismissed Svyrydenko as prime minister. Until a new premier is appointed and a Cabinet formed, the government will be led temporarily by Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal.
On July 15, Servant of the People faction head Davyd Arakhamia confirmed that Koretskyi had taken part in a meeting with the ruling party as a candidate for prime minister, and set out his vision for the Cabinet’s work and the government’s structure.
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