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Олександр КузьменкоWar
14 January 2026, 12:40
2026-01-14
Fedorov before being appointed Minister of Defense: "Everything should be based on data — this is my priority. We will measure the effectiveness of everything"
Former head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, Mykhailo Fedorov, gave a speech in the Verkhovna Rada before the vote on his appointment as Minister of Defense. In it, he spoke about army reform, artificial intelligence, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, an audit of the Ministry of Defense, and the de-occupation of his hometown.
Former head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, Mykhailo Fedorov, gave a speech in the Verkhovna Rada before the vote on his appointment as Minister of Defense. In it, he spoke about army reform, artificial intelligence, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, an audit of the Ministry of Defense, and the de-occupation of his hometown.
Fedorov was supposed to be appointed Minister of Defense yesterday, January 13, but the Verkhovna Rada failed to vote on the appointment of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal, who previously headed the Ministry of Defense, to the position. After that, it was decided to postpone the vote on personnel decisions to the next day.
Today, Mykhailo Fedorov gave a speech before the vote in the Verkhovna Rada. Below is his direct speech.
What did Mykhailo Fedorov promise to do as Minister of Defense?
Today, the people of Ukraine and the President want peace like no other. And everyone is working on it. Thank you to the US, the EU and the partners who are helping us.
The only one who doesn’t want peace is Russia.
Our main guarantee of security is the Defense Forces, the courage and ingenuity of the Ukrainian people.
Ukraine has already become a world leader in unmanned technologies. We have created a drone market, our own unmanned fleet, missiles, electronic warfare systems, ammunition, and shaheed interceptors.
On the battlefield, the feat of Ukrainian soldiers is unquestionable. They are the ones holding the front, and we owe them everything: our homes, families, and freedom.
But we must be honest: no country in the world was ready for the challenges of such a large-scale war. If it were not for civil society, donations from Ukrainians, the work of volunteers and foundations, assistance to each unit, if it were not for the support of our Western partners, we might no longer exist as a state. All together, united, we did the impossible. Thank you to every Ukrainian, every volunteer, and every partner who continues this work every day.
What will Fedorov fight against in the Ministry of Defense?
Today, there are still a large number of problems that need to be solved. The «paper» army, Soviet approaches, excessive bureaucracy, and failures in providing the front — all of this prevents the military on the front line from acting as effectively and reliably as possible to defend their land.
I am taking up the position of Minister of Defense not as a minister who built a digital state and created Diya, but as a person whose team has been working for a long time on war since 2022. Thanks to the work of our team and the support of the President, Starlinks, the Drone Army, the Drone Line, Brave1, the eBaly motivation system, UNITED24, the world’s first Amazon for war, Brave1 Market, appeared in Ukraine. We helped implement a series of asymmetric operations against the enemy, which were carried out by the GUR and the SBU.
On advances in weapons production
But we didn’t just implement individual projects. During this time, innovative markets were created from scratch that didn’t exist before. At the beginning of the invasion in Ukraine, there were 7 companies that made drones. Today, there are over 500. Electronic warfare — there were 2 companies, today — 200. There were no private companies that produced missiles at all, today — more than 20. Nuclear weapons — there were 0 companies, now — more than 100.
We began to systematically seek asymmetric solutions where classical warfare was too expensive or impossible for us: FPV drones instead of ATGMs to destroy armored vehicles, drone-copters instead of scarce ammunition and artillery, «Ukrainian Lancets» instead of Haimars, interceptors as part of air defense.
The Lazar regiment of the Ukrainian Air Force alone, which we supported from scratch, destroyed $15 billion worth of enemy equipment. Or our joint project with the SBU Alpha group, thanks to which we destroyed over 300 units of enemy air defense in 2025 alone. Or the Drone Line, which destroys every fourth target on the front.
On reforms in the Defense Forces and the losses of Russians
However, today you cannot fight with new technologies against the old organizational structure. Comprehensive changes are needed
Our goal is to change the system: to carry out army reform, improve infrastructure on the front lines, eradicate lies and corruption, make leadership and trust a new culture. So that people who produce real results receive rewards and the opportunity to grow further.
The president set a clear task: to build a system capable of stopping the enemy in the sky, advancing on the ground, intensifying asymmetric and cyber strikes against the enemy and its economy. To make the price of war for Russia such that it will not be able to bear it.
Stop the enemy by force.
We must begin work in the information and cognitive domain and counter Russian propaganda, particularly in enemy territory.
Our strategy has already led to the enemy losing a record 35,000 Russians in December. These are verified losses. There is a video for every defeat.
We launched a market for interceptors that shoot down tens of percent of all Shaheeds.
We are already destroying the Russians at sea and at their own airfields.
We were the first in the world to create drone assault regiments, one of which was the striking force for the recent deoccupation of Kupyansk.
About AI technologies
Artificial intelligence has already become Ukraine’s ally in the war: hundreds of AI solutions are working on the front lines and are used at all levels of military operations. We are moving towards full autonomy on the battlefield — from machine vision and data analytics to drone swarms. Our ambitious goal is to make Ukraine the first country in the world that can predict and neutralize enemy attacks with the help of AI. And much more that we cannot say publicly.
Resolving the issue of effective organization will allow us to 100% utilize the technological talent of Ukrainians and achieve all the goals of the war.
We are obliged to defeat the enemy in every technological cycle. To be one, two, ten steps ahead — to preserve the lives of our soldiers and destroy the enemy as effectively as possible.
More robots means fewer losses. More technology means fewer deaths. The lives of Ukrainian heroes are the highest value! We have no right to make decisions that cost the lives of our heroes.
About CCC and preparation
It is necessary to quickly, once and for all, change the system of training of Ukrainian military personnel. High-quality training means reducing losses and increasing efficiency. The problem of the CCC cannot be ignored. After a comprehensive audit, we will propose a systemic solution to solve the problems accumulated over the years and at the same time preserve the country’s defense capability.
Everything should be data-driven, that’s my priority. We’ll measure the effectiveness of everything.
About the Power of Unmanned Systems
We must scale the strong and help grow those who are ready for this and work for results. Access to development opportunities should be equal for everyone. Therefore, one of the first decisions as Minister of Defense will be to ensure a basic level of drone brigades, which is definitely lacking. This will increase predictability and quality of planning.
Today, the top 50 units out of 400 collectively account for 70% of enemy casualties. Imagine the potential of the Defense Forces if we help the remaining 350 grow.
Through our own example of interaction and joint projects with Magyar, K-2, Biletsky, Obolensky, Flint, Achilles, Phoenix, Rarog, Khmara, Perun, Nemesis, Redis, and many other incredible military personnel, we have seen an example of true leadership.
A strong platoon commander should become a company commander, a company a battalion, a battalion a brigade, a brigade a corps. We will evaluate leadership based on real data and results, not positions.
About international aid
We highly value cooperation with international partners and will deepen our interaction. The President has personally done historic work in attracting international resources. Our task is to use them as effectively as possible.
This year, we set a goal to increase the volume of international military assistance. To build real win-win relationships so that every hryvnia of assistance is clearly aimed at the result. The integration of partners — in particular, their scientific and research potential — will make our defense system stronger, while strengthening their defense capabilities.
Trust is our main currency in interaction with partners, society, and the military.
Therefore, anti-corruption is the foundation of the new Ministry of Defense. Today, whoever steals in war is our enemy.
On the development of the military-industrial complex and technologies
We will take the development of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex to a new level: defense tech will become a key industry of Ukraine in world markets and a driver of the country’s economic growth. We still need to do our homework to create Ukrainian air defense and our own laser-guided artillery. This will allow artillery to work more accurately, faster and more efficiently, reducing risks for our military. And this is a task from the President.
During the full-scale war in Ukraine, entrepreneurs developed top military companies from scratch. Thank you to everyone who changed the trajectory of their business and put everything on the defense of our independence. We have become convinced that if Ukrainians are given freedom and a level playing field, they will do the impossible. Our task is to attract the maximum number of entrepreneurs to defense production. More competition means higher quality and more affordable prices.
Only by calculating clearly and adhering to the mathematics of war will we be able to circumvent the enemy through asymmetry and efficiency.
About the audit of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine
In the near future, we will conduct an in-depth audit of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine to find additional opportunities to improve the financial and social level of support for military personnel.
I can’t announce all the plans publicly, but the National Security Committee is familiar with all the details.
We have a clear vision and war goals that are agreed upon by the Supreme Commander, the President. Everyone who helps achieve the war goals will receive the necessary resources to move forward. Those who fail will leave the system.
The defense system needs real, visible changes that are felt at the personnel level, reduce the internal «hell» of the system, and truly improve the capabilities of the army and the condition of the people who serve in it.
About de-occupation
Ukrainians are the bravest nation. The stopping of the second largest army in the world in February 2022 and the fight for freedom proved this and engraved it in history for centuries. And I am sure that we will succeed in everything.
And finally, I want to say that my hometown of Vasylivka in Zaporizhia region is occupied. Russian troops came to Vasylivka in the first days of the invasion. I am proud of my city, because the residents and the military began to resist. Thanks to this courageous struggle, the Russian offensive stopped further in this direction, and this affected the defense of Zaporizhia. For the last 4 years, I have been living to de-occupy Vasylivka. Therefore, my story is personal.
Thank you to the President and the Parliament for the trust. For the opportunity to serve the Ukrainian people. Glory to the defenders of Ukraine! Glory to Ukraine!
