Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced the preparation of large-scale changes in the system of recruiting, contract service, and military support. According to him, he and President Volodymyr Zelensky have been working on transforming service conditions since the first day of his appointment.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced the preparation of large-scale changes in the system of recruiting, contract service, and military support. According to him, he and President Volodymyr Zelensky have been working on transforming service conditions since the first day of his appointment.
Fedorov announced this during a meeting with journalists dedicated to the results of the work of the Ministry of Defense after his appointment on January 14, 2026.
According to the minister, quoted by Radio Liberty, the Ministry of Defense plans to launch the first stages of the reform in the coming months.
Among the key changes:
«We are preparing the first projects for implementation: a fair model of cash benefits, a new contract system with clear terms of service and a clear logic of rotations, new approaches to staffing our units, reducing the percentage of non-commissioned officers, and others,» said Fedorov.
The minister named defense procurement reform and anti-corruption as a separate priority. According to him, military procurement should be switched to tender procedures this summer.
The Ministry of Defense claims that the first competitive procurements have already yielded a noticeable economic effect. «We have already conducted the largest competitive procedure for the procurement of 155 mm long-range artillery shells and achieved savings of over 16%. The next step is to transfer the procurement of drones to tenders,» the minister said. Fedorov also announced plans to build a «transparent, competitive and fast procurement system without corruption risks» and announced changes in the field of research and development work and state quality control.
Another direction is the systematic provision of drones to brigades. The Ministry of Defense wants to introduce a guaranteed basic minimum supply of drones for each unit. «We need each unit to understand what minimum means it is guaranteed to receive next month for planning work and operations,» Fedorov explained.
