The goal is not to fight a socially just war. It is to win it. That’s why he’s acting like a tech CEO. Increasing internal competition. Cutting out ineffective personnel. Not rewarding seniority.
Things seemed to be going so well for Mikhailo Fedorov since becoming defense minister at the start of the year.
Ukraine’s Elon Musk, the Slavic Peter Thiel, the most effective young, hip technocrat USAID ever churned out. Fedorov is credited with deepening cooperation with Palantir, with increasing the effectiveness of the army, with the spectacular drone strikes on Russian cities and rear logistics over the past six months.
He is certainly putting on a brave face. A few days ago, he told an interviewer that Ukraine’s strikes on logistics leading to Crimea mean that the peninsula is ‘fucked’.
So why on earth did Zelensky seemingly threaten Fedorov with dismissal earlier this month? At the start of June, after a destructive Russian missile attack, Zelensky wrote the following to telegram:
I held a meeting on additional supply routes for air defense systems to Ukraine - systems and missiles for them. We have an agreement at the highest political level on the purchase of 'Patriots', and this agreement is awaiting implementation at the financial, legal, and technical levels. The wait has dragged on.
Today's meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Security and Defense Council, and the Office's diplomatic team. The task is absolutely clear - to speed up this contract for 'Patriots', and this is the personal responsibility of the involved officials…
Unfortunately, as of today, even the legal steps have not been worked out for this contract. I have set a final deadline - a week for all preparatory steps. I expect a report on Friday: either clarity on the implementation of our agreement on 'Patriots', or serious personnel conclusions. Glory to Ukraine!
Keep in mind that Zelensky often declares Fedorov’s responsibility for acquiring Patriot air defense systems.
With this winter likely to be the most catastrophic for Ukraine’s energy system yet, Fedorov’s position will become even more tenuous.
Clouds are gathering over Fedorov’s future. Zelensky hasn’t fired anyone for a long time, and his fingers are itching. The president seems tired of the ambitious minister.
This mistrust has been deepened by the constant public support for Fedorov by the western-funded ‘Sorosite’ circles that forced the resignation of so much of Zelensky’s ‘Family’ over the past year. They have been practically chanting their desire to see ‘technocrat Fedorov’ make the real decisions instead of the ‘corrupt Zelensky’.
And Fedorov has many other enemies. Much of Zelensky’s ruling party constantly criticizes him. Fedorov’s new ‘transformation’ of the army has led to much disapproval from soldiers, and does nothing to solve the problem of mobilization abuses. Instead, Fedorov has stated his intent to intensify mobilization and punish draft dodgers and deserters more harshly than before.
Finally, Fedorov is being attacked by the media empire around ex-president Petro Poroshenko. Poroshenko has even more reasons to dislike Fedorov.
Fedorov vs Trukha
The struggle against Fedorov burst into the open over the past week because of a corruption and mobilization scandal involved the most popular telegram channel in the country, ‘Trukha’.
On June 6, Trukha promised its 3 million followers it would provide evidence that Fedorov was involved in massive corruption involving drones. Trukha even claimed that Oleksandr Konotopsky, one of the country’s richest men, was ‘making billions off drones while living in the same Dubai apartment block as Russian generals’.
Then on June 17, Trukha put out a long post stating that five TRC (mobilization) officers had kidnapped the Trukha admin, Maksim Lavrinenko. Trukha accused defense minister Fedorov of giving the order, supposedly revenge for Trukha’s investigation into drone corruption.
Lavrinenko also accused Fedorov many times over the past few months of doing nothing to end abusive mobilization practices. On June 15, for instance, Trukha drew attention to a recent case in which a mobilized soldier was beaten to death in a TRC (Territorial Recruitment Centre). The post ended by condemning Fedorov for ignoring the problem of mobilization in his flashy new ministry of defense website.
In a June 18 post, Trukha accused Fedorov and his prominent aide Serhii Sternenko (a murderous lib-nazi blogger) of justifying the ‘blatantly inhumane methods’ of the TRC. He also posted a full video of his own detainment by the TRC, along with a compilation of other abuses by the mobilization officers.
Given how pro-Zelensky Trukha has always been, the struggle over the telegram channel is clearly indicative of deeper contradictions. The telegram channel is clearly aligned with powerful sections of the Zelensky elite that want Fedorov gone.
Servants vs Fedorov
For instance, Trukha has been amplifying the criticism of Fedorov by the parliamentarian Danylo Hetmantsev, head of the parliamentary tax committee. Hetmantsev is one of the most influential MPs in Zelensky’s ‘Servant of the People’ party, and has long been highly critical of Fedorov.
