Who is Mykhailo Fedorov? Ukraine’s Fired Defence Minister & Wartime Reformer
Mykhailo Fedorov: Rise, Reforms, and Removal
By Max Hunder
KYIV, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine's ousted Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for wartime elections - the most serious internal challenge to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy since Russia's invasion.
The 35-year-old was a longtime ally of the president, becoming Ukraine's youngest minister when Zelenskiy appointed him to his first cabinet in 2019.
His unexpected firing from the Defence Ministry in July, just six months after he had been appointed, came after he vowed sweeping reforms and grew in popularity, but also clashed with senior generals over strategy and procurement.
Fedorov's dismissal was greeted by rare wartime protests in Kyiv and other cities, mostly attended by younger Ukrainians. Fedorov is popular in the parts of the military focused on drone warfare, of which he was a key early adopter since 2022.
"We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to renew its full democratic process even in the conditions of a long war," Fedorov said on Tuesday night.
In his strongest criticism yet of Zelenskiy, he said Ukraine faced a "systemic crisis of governance," and criticised wartime corruption without making specific accusations. Zelenskiy fired a member of his administration on Wednesday, without giving a reason, after anti-corruption agencies said they had uncovered suspected money-laundering. His office did not immediately respond to Fedorov's criticism.
Early Life and Political Ascent
How Did He Rise to Power?
Fedorov was born in Vasylivka, a town now occupied by Russia in southern Ukraine, and grew up in the nearby city of Zaporizhzhia, which is now pounded daily by Russian bombs and drones.
As a young marketing specialist, he was brought in by Zelenskiy, then a well-known television host, to run the social media campaign that helped him surge to a landslide victory in April 2019.
Digital Transformation Leadership
Fedorov Gives Ukraine a 'State in a Smartphone'
Fedorov, then aged 28, was appointed to Zelenskiy's first cabinet as minister for digital transformation, a new post that allowed him to push through technology-driven reforms.
Targeting the legacy of Soviet bureaucracy, his new department rolled out an app called Diia, which means "action" in Ukrainian. Billed as "the state in a smartphone", it allows Ukrainians to conduct a range of government functions, from registering cars to marriages and divorces.
Wartime Innovations
What Was His Role in Starlink and Drones?
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Fedorov made a public appeal to SpaceX owner Elon Musk to switch on the Starlink satellite internet service over Ukraine – which Musk promptly did.
Ukraine's military now uses tens of thousands of Starlinks, with commanders describing it as the lifeblood of their battlefield communications. In February this year, Fedorov worked with Starlink to block its unauthorised use by Russia.
Early in the war, he also advocated building an "army of drones" – becoming an early champion of a technology that eventually came to dominate the battlefield.
His digital ministry set up a system under which Ukrainian soldiers who could video-verify strikes on Russian soldiers and vehicles were given points to buy weapons such as drones. His ministry thereby gained a large pool of battlefield data, which he portrayed as a "card" Ukraine could wield in its negotiations with allies for more military support.
Defence Ministry Tenure
What Did Fedorov Do as Defence Minister?
Promoted to the post of defence minister in January 2026, Fedorov vowed a data-driven overhaul of the vast ministry, which had been beset by corruption and mismanagement scandals throughout the war.
He set out a vision of a path to victory that involved inflicting 50,000 monthly casualties on Russia, neutering its aerial attacks and crippling its economy.
But he did not deliver promised proposals on how to reform Ukraine's process for conscripting troops and make it fairer.
He did announce a reform of service contracts in the roughly million-person armed forces and promised to increase wages, particularly in the infantry, but serving soldiers complained the proposals favoured fresh joiners.
People who volunteered to join the army earlier in the war still have few ways to go home other than if they suffer serious injuries.
Dismissal and Public Response
Dismissal and Protests
Fedorov was abruptly dismissed in mid-July amid a broader government reshuffle, a move that was greeted by thousands of people coming out onto the streets of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. They demanded his reappointment as well as the dismissal of military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who favoured a more infantry-driven style of fighting that critics said led to high troop losses.
Zelenskiy subsequently replaced Syrskyi with a younger general, but did not reappoint Fedorov, nominating security service chief Yevhenii Khmara as the new defence minister.
On the eve of the parliamentary vote to confirm Khmara, Fedorov made his election demand in an address that contained the strongest wartime criticism of Zelenskiy by a former member of the president's inner circle.
Reporting and Editing Credits
(Reporting by Max Hunder; editing by Daniel Flynn and Philippa Fletcher)