The Downfall of Mykhailo Fedorov

Kyiv. After a month-long recess, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, resumed its work on 18 August. The Ukrainian parliamentarians’ work had been suspended following the appointment of a new government, but the summer recess had begun even before a vote had been held on two key posts: the Minister of Defence and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Both positions fall within the quota proposed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Mykhailo Fedorov’s resignation as Defence Minister sparked street protests in many Ukrainian cities, which continued despite Zelensky having replaced the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, with whom Fedorov had clashed. Mykhailo Drapaty was appointed to replace Syrsky, but the protesters were not satisfied with the change and continued to demand the return of the highly popular minister. The street protests, albeit on a smaller scale, continued throughout the month, even during the parliamentary recess. Meanwhile, Yevhen Khmara, former head of the Ukrainian Security Service and the sole candidate for the post of defence minister, maintained contact with international partners and attended meetings with the president alongside the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, demonstrating his unity with Drapaty and the absence of any rifts between the ministry and the military leadership – in contrast to what had occurred during the tenures of Fedorov and Syrsky. Although work at the Ministry of Defence continued even without him, Fedorov continued to make his presence felt, to communicate, to appear busy, ready to return to his ministry and capable of annoying Zelensky. This week, he gave an interview in which he praised Elon Musk for restricting the use of Starlink in Russia last January: “Elon and SpaceX have protected our air defence, saved our air force and saved thousands of civilian lives,” Fedorov told CBS News. On 17 August, Musk reposted these words on the social media platform X, commenting on them with a heart emoji. The media exposure and support from the visionary entrepreneur were of little use to him, however, because in the meantime, Zelensky had officially appointed Yevhen Khmara to Parliament, thereby making it clear that, despite Musk’s strong support, he would not reinstate Fedorov.

Following the Ukrainian President’s clarification to the Verkhovna Rada regarding who would head the Ministry of Defence, only one question remained: what would be Fedorov’s next moves? In July, following his resignation, he had turned down the offer to become Deputy Prime Minister for Military Innovation. At the time, however, he had never criticised Zelensky. Instead, late in the evening of 18 July, the day before Parliament was due to vote on the new Defence Minister, Fedorov posted a nine-minute video on his personal YouTube channel, which he had just created. In the video, he spoke of a crisis in public administration and corruption within the government. “Corruption in wartime is not just a financial problem; it is a matter of survival and victory,” the former minister claimed.

He argued that the money stolen during the war can be directly quantified in terms of ‘a drone not purchased’, ‘ammunition not delivered’, ‘a vehicle not used to evacuate a wounded person’ or ‘technology not put into production’. But the sensationalist nature of the video was not intended to harshly criticise Zelensky’s government or to level accusations of corruption: Fedorov, unexpectedly, called for elections to be held during the war. “We must find a legal, secure and realistic mechanism that allows Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even in the face of a protracted war,” he said. His comments on the elections sparked an uproar on social media. According to a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology between 20 July and 3 August, only 15 per cent of Ukrainians are in favour of holding elections before a ceasefire on the front line. Fifty-seven per cent believe that elections should only be held after the war has ended. Even the opposition to Zelensky – the allies of former President Petro Poroshenko – are opposed to holding elections “under enemy fire”. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, an MP from the European Solidarity group, points out that Fedorov worked for seven years in Zelensky’s team in various roles, whilst remaining silent on the shortcomings of his system. It was only after being ousted that he began to speak of values and principles: “And now he is proposing miraculous solutions – elections during wartime – without explaining how to actually guarantee the democratic, transparent and fair nature of this process”.

Cities such as Kherson, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk are under constant bombardment. Ensuring that electoral commissions and observers can carry out their work, or even that an election campaign can take place, under these conditions is unrealistic. “I took to the streets in support of Fedorov for the post of Defence Minister and against the opaque decision to sack him,” wrote Anna, one of the protesters, on the social media platform Threads. “If this is his election campaign, it’s terrifying. I don’t support the elections!” Olga Aivazovska, head of the civil society network Opora, which has been monitoring the integrity of the electoral process in Ukraine for many years, says she invited representatives from the Ministry of Defence – when Fedorov was in charge – to a dialogue on the voting rights of military personnel, but they showed no interest. The expert points out that elections are not just about polling day, but also involve numerous organisational measures that are impossible to implement under current conditions. “I am firmly opposed to holding elections without taking into account the current state of infrastructure, risk analysis and adequate preparation,” she explains to Il Foglio. “Fifty per cent of our citizens do not live at their registered address (29 per cent in Ukraine + 20 per cent abroad) and the State Electoral Register is in desperate need of data verification,” she cites as one of many problems. “Elections in wartime would not be fully democratic and we would pay a high price for them,” concludes Aivazovska.

On 19 August, the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada voted 312 in favour of appointing Khmara as Defence Minister. His appointment received support from both the government and the opposition. Roman Lozynsky, a Member of Parliament for the Holos faction, is convinced that not voting for Khmara would only have exacerbated the political crisis. “The success of the Ministry of Defence represents an opportunity for survival and victory. An opportunity for peace,” said the MP.