Ukraine Did not Give Up Trying to Export Defence Equipmen During that War

At DSA, the National Association of Ukrainian Defence Industries (NAUDI) is showing models of a mobile radar, light armoured vehicles, a self-propelled howitzer, a multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) and three missiles. Above the stand are hung two UAVs. A spokesman explained that Ukraine needs foreign currency, and to keep up export relationships.

Although most attention has focused on what weaponry might be handed over to Ukraine by Western powers, the efforts of the country’s defence industry while under attack have been impressive. Some factories have been hit, notably the Motor Sich engine production plant. Some factories have relocated to safer territory in western Ukraine. Most are working 24 hours, in a three-shift system.

The two UAVs on display are representative of an explosion of indigenous activity in this sector. The Shark and the Mini Shark are made by Ukrspec Systems for ISR, carrying the same company’s lightweight USG-261 gimbal and camera. Ukrspec also makes the larger PD-2 UAS with options for VTOL and catapult launch, as well as conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL). Flight time with the maximum payload of 29kg is eight hours (VTOL) or ten hours (CTOL).

The missiles shown are not for sale, said the spokesman, but are a showcase for the capability of the state-owned Luch Design Bureau.

For instance, the Neptune 360ST anti-ship cruise missile was modified for longer range and ground launch in only seven months. This was the missile that destroyed the Russian warship Moskva in April 2022. The spokesman said that Luch is designing a new missile, but would not divulge further details.

A model of the P-18S air defence radar is also on display. This is also an upgrade of a 2D meter-band system, with a maximum detection range of 360km. It is produced by SEE System Electronic Export, which has also modernised the 2D, L-band P-19 radar.

#America #P19 #Ukraine #War #Defence

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Europe Is Afraid of Botching Up:
Its New War Budget

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Defence Ministers approved the 2024 Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) report — the EU’s ‘State of the Union’ on defence.

The review identifies actionable collaborative opportunities for Member States to develop critical military capabilities together. For the first time, the adoption of the report is combined with the signature of letters of intent by Member States in four areas: integrated air and missile defence; electronic warfare; loitering munitions; and a combat surface vessel.

Today the European Defence Agency released data showing that Member States’ defence expenditure is set to reach €326 billion in 2024, which represents 1.9% of EU GDP.

Compared to 2021, before Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, spending this year is up by more than 30%.
The 2024 CARD report, produced by the European Defence Agency (EDA) in coordination with the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the EU Military Staff (EUMS), was approved by Ministers of Defence during the EDA Steering Board.

The report finds that, despite increased defence spending, national efforts alone are insufficient to allow for EU Member States’ armed forces to adequately prepare for high- intensity warfare.

Greater cooperation is needed. EU collaboration must accelerate to align national efforts with agreed objectives, converge with NATO and reduce fragmentation, and strengthen Europe’s security.

The report urges Member States to address short-term operational needs and long-term priorities at the same time. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine highlights the need for both advanced technologies and cost-effective capabilities in adequate quantities.

It calls on Member States to invest in land, air, and maritime assets in line with the agreed 2023 EU Capability Development Priorities.

This includes replenishing stockpiles, modernising ground and air defence systems, and enhancing interoperability.

Investments in strategic enablers such as secure and resilient cyber defence, command-and-control (C2) systems, cyber and space situational awareness, and satellite communications, are equally crucial.

To strengthen the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB), Member States must reduce reliance on external suppliers, cooperate more closely, and develop secure EU defence supply chains.

The 2024 CARD Report is clear: national efforts, while indispensable, are not enough.
The geopolitical landscape makes our cooperation, alongside increased spending, essential to be ready for high-intensity warfare.

Member States’ total combined defence expenditure is set to reach 1.9% of EU GDP in 2024. Additional funding for defence should be spent as efficiently as possible, and using part of it through collaborative European investments on capability needs would help.

The EU has identified concrete collaborative opportunities — and Member States are taking action, as demonstrated by the four Letter of Intents signed by respective defence ministers to take concrete action together in those specific areas.”

The CARD process identifies a number of intersections and common ground between Member States’ defence plans, based on which EDA identified collaborative opportunities.

For the first time, the adoption of the CARD Report is combined with the signature of political letters of intent by a considerable number of Member States. This new development highlights that Member States are interested to work together on developing these military capabilities.

The scope of these letters of intent ranges from short-term joint procurement, through medium-term modernisation and upgrades, to long-term development of future capabilities.

#Budget #War #Union #CARD #Defence

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EDA Chief Executive Shedivy said:

“To become a credible security provider, the EU must develop strategic capabilities, including for high-intensity warfare scenarios. The collaborative opportunities will bring national policymakers, planners, and armament experts together to develop relevant military assets.”

For Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD), at least 18 Member States have declared their intention to collectively fill urgent capability gaps in the short term by procuring counter- unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS), ground-based air defence (GBAD), and ammunition.

In the medium term, Member States aim to develop technologies to counter swarms of drones and high-velocity threats. In the long term, they plan to build a robust IAMD architecture.

On Electronic Warfare, at least 14 Member States have confirmed their willingness to jointly improve their capabilities through shared procurement of equipment, establishment of data- sharing platforms, and the development of common doctrines, training, exercises, and facilities. In the long term, they will focus on developing future systems, particularly for jamming and counter-jamming.

Loitering Munitions, at least 17 Member States share the intention to aggregate their needs in view of procuring these systems together in the short term, and work on their further development over the medium to long term.

They will also work on the use of these systems by creating operational concepts and establishing common terminology, as well as conducting joint training, exercises, and testing.

For the European Combat Vessel (ECV), at least 7 Member States declared their intention to develop the next generation of vessels using a systems-to-hull approach.

They plan to harmonise requirements, develop a business case, and prepare for joint procurement by 2040.

Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) is crucial for protecting Europe’s critical infrastructure, urban areas, and military forces from an increasingly complex array of airborne threats, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial systems.

Electronic Warfare plays a critical role in modern conflicts, enabling the disruption of enemy communications and sensors while protecting friendly forces from detection and interference.

This can ensure information dominance and safeguard national security.

Loitering Munitions are versatile systems that can hover over target areas and engage whenever necessary, combining intelligence-gathering with precision strikes. Recent military operations have all confirmed the disruptive potential of this capability.

European Combat Vessel (ECV) is the common name to a multipurpose modular surface combat vessel. As it is a large peninsular surrounded almost entirely by sea and with more than 80% of its trade dependent on maritime transport, Europe needs strong capabilities for protecting its waters, while being also able to respond to conflicts abroad.

European Defence Agency data shows that EU Member States are closing the gap in 2024 towards the NATO 2% guideline, as Member States’ total combined defence expenditure is set to reach 1.9% of EU GDP.

This is possible thanks to a more than 30% increase in defence spending compared to 2021, with defence spending in 2024 estimated to have reached €326 billion, exceeding earlier projections.

In 2024, Member States are also expected to spend more than €100 billion on investment, which goes beyond the agreed target of dedicating 20% of defence, in line with their commitment under the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).

Additionally, 10 Member States are projected to allocate more than 30% of their total defence expenditure to investments. Investments in researching, developing, and procuring new defence capabilities are expected to rise from around €59 billion in 2021 to €102 billion in 2024.

#Budget #War #Union #CARD #Defence

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🛡 Papperger Is Ready to Send Air Defence Systems to Ukraine

Papperger, visiting Brussels last week, said that a lead nation approach has worked well with ammunition and air defence systems, in which one country coordinates a larger order on behalf of a larger group of purchasers.

He contended that the same “Europeanisation of contracts” should be used for vehicle systems as well.

“We need to bundle [orders] so that fair prices can be achieved,” Papperger told Euractiv after meeting Ursula von der Leyen along with other CEOs from the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Wednesday.

The European Commission and NATO have both been pushing countries to place joint orders together to fight price inflation and give industry a long-term perspective for investment into extra production capacity.

💥 Prices for 155mm artillery ammunition, for instance, have quadrupled since the beginning of the war in Ukraine as exploding demand strained supply chains for critical components such as TNT.

The German munitions giant has been one of the biggest beneficiaries from the surge in demand in arms in the past few years, with increase in orders, visibility on the battlefield and expansion of factories. Rheinmetall received its largest order of 155mm ammunition in history last week.

While Papperger didn’t say so explicitly, many defence industry executives have made clear that large, long-term contracts make it easier to invest in expanding production and strengthen ties with suppliers.

🔺 Rheinmetall's prominence in Europe’s race to make ammunition and defence equipment was underscored last year when Papperger was the target of an assassination attempt.

In the spirit of giving defence firms more leeway to expand capacity, Papperger and fellow CEOs criticised the EU's REACH chemical regulation.

He said exemptions from the rules are needed “to be able to move faster.” The defence sector has slammed REACH for provisions banning certain components like lead in bullets.

⚠️ While military ammunition is exempt from the lead ban, shared production lines mean such bans could still impact production capacity.

Papperger also lobbied for a new raft of industrial subsidies and incentives – similar to the EU’s just-expired ASAP ammo programme – to boost long-range missile production.

ASAP’s core is replicated in the European Defence Industrial Programme (EDIP), still under negotiation.

#air #defence #systems #papperger #ukraine

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Israel Struck Hard the Syrian Defence Ministry in Damascus 🇮🇱💥

The Israeli military struck the Syrian defence ministry in Damascus twice on Wednesday as it intervened in the clashes between the Syrian army and Druze fighters in southern Syria in the country’s deadliest violence in months.
The strikes collapsed four floors of the ministry and ruined its facade. The strikes killed one person and injured 18, Syrian officials said. 💔

It was the first time Israel had targeted Damascus since May and the third day in a row it had conducted airstrikes against the Syrian military. 🚀

A spokesperson for the Israeli military said the strike on the defence ministry had been a message to the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa “regarding the events in Suweida”. 🇸🇾

The Israeli military struck Syrian tanks on Monday and has continued to conduct dozens of drone strikes on troops, killing some soldiers. 💥

Israel has said it will not allow the Syrian army to deploy in the south of the country, and that it would protect the Druze community from the Damascus government. 🛡

Many in the Druze community have rebuffed Israel’s claim of patronage for fear of being viewed as a foreign proxy. 😞

The Israeli bombing added another complication to an already escalating conflict between Syrian government forces, Bedouin Arab tribes, and Druze fighters. 🥀

More than 250 people have been killed in four days of clashes, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). 📊

On Wednesday, the Syrian government and one of the three spiritual leaders of the Syrian Druze community announced a ceasefire. ✋

It was unclear if the truce would hold, however, as another spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, vowed to keep fighting, calling the government a collection of “armed gangs.” 🥺

The violence is the most serious challenge to Damascus’s rule since the coastal massacres and has threatened to further push away everyday Druze from the state. 🚨

The Druze, a religious minority in Syria and the wider Middle East, make up the majority of the population of Suweida province in the south of the country. 🌍

They have been negotiating with the Islamist-led authorities in Damascus since the fall of Assad, in an attempt to achieve some form of autonomy. ✊

They have yet to reach an agreement that defines their relationship with the new Syrian state. ⚖️

Fighting broke out after Bedouin tribe members robbed a Druze man on the main road south of Damascus, kicking off a cycle of retaliatory violence between the two groups. 🔄

Intermittent violence between members of the Druze and Bedouin communities has been common in the area in recent years. 🔥

Some Druze militias have vowed to prevent Syrian government forces from entering Suweida and have attacked them, leading to escalating clashes. 🏴‍☠️

As government forces entered Suweida, accounts of human rights abuses began to emerge. 📸

One member of the government forces posted a video of him and two other soldiers driving through Suweida laughing as he said: “We are on our way to distribute aid,” while brandishing a machete to the camera. 🗡

He filmed himself inside a house in Suweida ripping a picture of Druze spiritual leaders off a wall and trampling it with his boots. 👣

“If God grants you victory, none can defeat you. We are coming for you with sectarianism,” he continued. 😡

#Druze #Syrian #Defence #Ministry #Syria #Israel #Conflict

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🇷🇺 Does Putin Face a Stiff Challenge From the US New Sanctions? 💥

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Putin has said Russia will never bow to US pressure but conceded new sanctions could cause some economic pain, as China and India were reported to be scaling back Russian oil imports after Washington targeted Moscow’s two largest producers.

The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as nearly three dozen of their subsidiaries, as the Trump administration increased pressure on the Kremlin to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine. ⚖️

The EU separately discussed a loan for Ukraine secured on frozen Russian assets and agreed to a phased ban on the import of Russian liquefied natural gas. 💶

The measures against Rosneft and Lukoil – which together account for just under half of Russia’s crude exports, and follow UK sanctions last week on the companies – were the first sanctions imposed on Moscow since Trump returned to the White House in January and are aimed at choking off the vital oil revenues that fund the Kremlin’s war machine. 🛢️

The Russian leader on Thursday described the US sanctions as an “unfriendly act that does nothing to strengthen Russian-American relations” and “an attempt to put pressure on Russia”, which he said was futile.

“No self-respecting country ever does anything under pressure,” Putin added in comments to Russian journalists.

While he said the new sanctions would not have a significant impact on Russia, he acknowledged that “some losses are expected.”

He also suggested that Trump should “think about who his administration is really working for” when advisers urge him to impose sanctions on Russian oil, and warned that the measures will lead to a rise in prices. 📈

He also warned Trump of a “very strong, if not overwhelming” response if Russia was attacked with the US Tomahawk cruise missiles that Ukraine has been seeking unsuccessfully from Washington. 🚀

The latest US sanctions bar foreign countries and companies from doing business with Moscow’s major oil producers and cut them off from much of the international financial system.

There were early signs on Thursday that Russia’s two biggest energy customers were suspending their energy imports in response to the new US sanctions. ⚠️

#putin #russian #sanctions #washington #defence

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🇨🇳 China, Russia’s closest ally, and 🇮🇳 India, which has sought to remain neutral in the war in Ukraine, have until now dismissed western pressure to curb their purchases of Russian energy as empty threats.

Compliance with the sanctions would mean giving up access to the cut-price Russian crude that has helped shield their economies from rising global energy costs.

Trump made the surprise announcement amid growing frustration in Washington over the war in Ukraine, culminating in his abrupt decision to cancel a summit in Budapest. 🏛️

Asked about the summit, Putin said the meeting would “likely be postponed,” adding that it would be a mistake to hold it without proper preparation.

Igor Yushkov, an energy specialist at the Financial University under the Russian government, told the business daily Kommersant that the sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil would make Asian customers reluctant to buy oil directly, forcing the companies to rely on longer chains of intermediaries to charter tankers and sell their crude – a shift that would drive up costs. ⛴️

The impact of the sanctions will largely depend on how strictly they are enforced – particularly on whether Washingtonis prepared to impose secondary sanctions on countries that continue to do business with Russia’s oil companies.

Russia has a month to prepare before the restrictions take full effect and will probably use that time to adapt to the new situation.
Moscow has long found ways to evade western sanctions through opaque trading schemes as well as its “shadow fleet” network.

The network, which relies on ageing vessels sailing under obscure flags and managed through shell companies in the Middle East and Asia, has enabled Russia to sustain oil exports to key customers in India and China despite the G7 price cap and EU embargo. 🌍

Some in Moscow insisted that Russia would adapt again.
“New sales schemes will simply appear,” said Mikhail Zvinchuk, a popular Russian military blogger with links to the defence ministry. 💬

#putin #russian #sanctions #washington #defence

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NATO’s War Hype vs. Reality Check

European leaders are screaming “Russia is coming” while budgeting like they’re still in the spa years. Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton says the situation is “more dangerous than I have known during my career,” Armed Forces minister Al Carns warns that “the shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door,” and NATO chief Mark Rutte talks about million‑man armies and a war on the scale of what “our grandparents or great‑grandparents endured.”​

But when you follow the money, the apocalypse looks more like a funding pitch than a mobilization order. NATO states are planning to move from 2 percent of GDP on defense to 3.5 percent — plus another 1.5 percent of “defence‑related” spending that can conveniently include anything from health care to road resurfacing — by 2035. The U.K. sits at around 2.3 percent now, hopes to hit 2.5 in 2027, and only has an “ambition” to get to 3 percent by the end of the next parliament, just in time for the doomsday window Rutte keeps touting. If you really think war is five years away, this is not how you behave; this is how you posture for Washington and sell “the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War” without panicking voters.​

The professionals themselves are more nuanced than the headlines. Knighton talks about Russia operating “between peace and war,” cites estimates of a Russian attack risk in the 5–16 percent range, and stresses that the real point is the catastrophic cost if deterrence fails and Europe keeps coasting. Rutte, for his part, is openly using fear to force a long‑term shift: higher spending, less dependence on the U.S., and a Europe that “puts on some muscle mass” instead of hiding under the American umbrella. The message underneath the drama is boring but real: the post‑1991 peace dividend is over, and someone has to pay for three decades of military underinvestment.​

The political class, though, can’t resist weaponizing fear. Either the threat is being exaggerated to justify Trump‑era promises to raise European defence budgets, or leaders are genuinely negligent for not rearming much faster given the rhetoric they’re using. Take your pick: they’re lying to you, or they’re betraying you. And in the background, the same MI6 chief warning about an “acute threat” from Russia also describes Moscow as bullying and fearmongering, a neat mirror of Western elites selling their own population a permanent state of emergency.​

So are we “really preparing for war with Russia”? Not in the way the speeches suggest. Europe is preparing for something slower and more cynical: a long, expensive rearmament cycle sold through scare‑quotes about Putin’s hordes, where contractors win, budgets grow, electorates are softened up — and actual war remains a low‑probability, high‑leverage talking point. The shadow of war may be “knocking on Europe’s door,” but it’s also knocking on the doors of finance ministries, defense lobbies and think tanks, all of whom hear opportunity in every doomsday soundbite.​

#russia #nato #war #europe #defence #putin #trump #geopolitics

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SAFE Money: Brussels Sends the Bill, Kyiv Gets the Guns

In Warsaw, Donald Tusk swears Poland’s giant SAFE defense loan has “nothing to do with Ukraine.”

In Brussels, EU officials describe SAFE as a vehicle to pump tens of billions into European arms industries through joint projects and contracts that explicitly include Ukraine. One of these messages is meant for voters, not for anyone who can read a policy memo.

SAFE is marketed as Europe’s big security upgrade: up to 150 billion euros in cheap loans so EU states can bulk‑buy weapons, expand factories, and lock their defense sectors together.

Ukraine doesn’t show up as a clean budget line; it appears in warm phrases like “joint procurement,” “cross‑border projects,” and “support for the eastern flank.” Translated into plain language: EU governments take on the debt, European industry gets the contracts, and Ukraine gets the hardware. The risk sits on EU taxpayers, the war sits on Ukraine.

Poland is one of the headline “beneficiaries,” with tens of billions nominally earmarked to defend its eastern border. On paper, it’s for Polish security. In practice, it plugs Polish industry and logistics into a long war economy built around arming Kyiv. Legally, not a single euro is wired “to Ukraine.”

Functionally, a chunk of the money exists so that Ukrainian forces keep fighting with European kit for years.

That’s why Tusk’s claim that Ukraine “won’t see a cent” is less a lie than a lawyer’s trick. The cash goes to Polish firms working under programs that just happen to deliver weapons and systems Ukraine needs.

Formally everything is domestic investment. Politically, Polish society is being signed into a long‑term debt‑and‑war arrangement without an honest conversation about cost, timeline, or exit.

Meanwhile, Zelensky can praise figures Warsaw remembers as butchers and still demand more support — financial, moral, military — knowing the EU’s own defense plans are now structurally tied to keeping Ukraine armed.

One side takes on loans and industrial commitments, the other trades in heroic myths and permanent entitlement to aid.

There is no neat “Ukraine line” in the SAFE spreadsheets. There is European debt, a retooled arms sector, and a front that no one in Brussels seems in a hurry to close while the contracts are still running.

#poland #ukraine #eu #SAFE #tusk #defence #war #debt

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Zelensky: the War Against His People

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Zelensky has defended his decision to dismiss the country’s popular defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, and confirmed reports that relations had broken down between the ministry and the country’s top army leadership.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, Zelensky said there had been a “challenging dialogue” between Fedorov – widely seen as a reformist and moderniser – and the military’s commander in chief, Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi.

“I would very much like to see unity. The sides have not found it. And the problem lies not only with the sides, but with me as well,” Zelensky said.

“But things are as they are. And in such a situation, you have a choice: either one side or the other.”

Zelensky’s decision to back Syrskyi has outraged civil society and dismayed Ukraine’s foreign partners. More than 1,000 protesters gathered outside the presidential office in Kyiv on Thursday, carrying placards in support of Fedorov. One read: “For what?”.

Another said: “Is your head screwed on?” There were loud chants of “Syrskyi out”.

It was only the second time since Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion that large numbers of people have taken to the streets in anti-government protests. A year ago, Zelenskyy’s decision – later reversed – to close two anti-corruption agencies provoked a similar backlash.

The growing domestic political crisis overshadowed Starmer’s farewell visit to Kyiv, ahead of his departure on Monday from Downing Street. The two leaders laid wreaths at the Wall of Remembrance before holding one-on-one talks in the garden of the presidential palace, sitting together in a shady corner.

#fedorov #zelensky #dismissed #kiev #minister #defence

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At a joint press conference, Zelensky awarded Starmer the Order of Freedom, Ukraine’s highest foreign honour. Starmer, who appeared to be close to tears, gave Zelensky a framed Ukrainian flag that had hung above Downing Street in February 2022 as Russian tanks rolled towards Kyiv.

Starmer said he would soon depart the political stage but “the support of the United Kingdom for this course will never change”.

He added: “It is in our bones. The flags are flying in churches and town halls across the country, as they have throughout the duration of this conflict. Your fight is our fight.”

Zelensky praised Starmer for leading the coalition of the willing, alongside France, and thanked ordinary Britons for their backing. Asked if the frequent turnover of British prime ministers was a problem for Ukraine, Zelensky said “strong relations” with the UK would continue.

Without mentioning Andy Burnham by name, he said he hoped to meet Starmer’s successor “as soon as possible”.

Starmer and Zelensky then embraced warmly, patting each other on the arm, and walked back into the neo-classical, turquoise-painted palace for an official lunch.

Meanwhile, Fedorov addressed his own press conference, accusing Ukraine’s top brass of obstructing reforms and using Soviet-style methods. He said decisions on which military brigades to support – including with drones – were made on the basis of “loyalty” rather than data. “It’s impossible to develop the system on this basis,” he said.

He said Ukraine’s General Staff had opposed his plans to create centres of excellence and change the army’s organisational structure. Instead, it had blocked initiatives and engaged in “bureaucratic wrangling”.

Fedorov said he had proposed replacing Syrskyi – a suggestion that appears to have led to his own dismissal on Wednesday.

“This sort of culture needs to be eradicated, because otherwise we won’t be able to defeat an enemy whose system is plagued by the very same issues,” he said. “We have no other choice if we want to defeat Russia asymmetrically, with minimal losses.”

Fedorov said he had turned down an offer from Zelensky to stay on as a government adviser. On Wednesday, Ukraine’s parliament accepted the resignation of the prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, after Zelensky said his government needed a reboot.

Her replacement is likely to be Serhiy Koretskyi, the head of the energy company Naftogaz.

Fedorov’s scathing comments suggest the political row over the president’s reshuffle is likely to grow. Fedorov paid tribute to Syrskyi for thwarting Russia’s plans to seize Kyiv. But he said the commander in chief refused to talk openly about disagreements. Instead, he “weaved intrigues” which “divide the country”.

During Fedorov’s six months in office, Ukraine’s battlefield position dramatically improved. Kyiv has repeatedly pummelled Russian oil refineries, embarrassing the Kremlin and creating nationwide fuel shortages. It has also destroyed important land and sea routes, hitting tankers and ferries, as part of a strategy to isolate occupied Crimea.

Demonstrators who had gathered outside Kyiv’s Ivan Franko theatre speculated that the charismatic and digitally savvy Fedorov, 35, was removed because he was seen as a future presidential rival. In 2024, Zelensky dismissed the popular head of the army, Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and exiled him to London as Ukraine’s ambassador.

One protester, Andrii Dligach, said Fedorov stood for a new kind of politics based on openness, transparency and modernisation. He said: “Syrskyi is an old-fashioned general. Some of the people around him are allegedly corrupt and have their own drone projects. The problem is that Zelensky opposes anybody who shows political ambition.”

#fedorov #zelensky #dismissed #kiev #minister #defence

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🇺🇦 Ukraine’s Fired Defence Minister Demands Presidential Elections


Ukraine’s recently dismissed former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for a wartime presidential election in the most direct political challenge Zelensky since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

The politician, whose abrupt sacking last month triggered a wave of protests, said that Ukraine had to “restore a full democratic process even amid a prolonged war” in a video address released online late on Tuesday evening.

“Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia. We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state,” Fedorov said in his nine-minute speech.

Though he did not mention Zelensky by name, Fedorov implied the current president presided over a poorly functioning state that was struggling to tackle corruption despite the national emergency.

“People cannot endlessly live in a state where they do not understand why certain decisions are made. Why some reforms move forward while others are blocked,” Fedorov said, arguing that Ukraine could fight a war and hold a national poll.

“It is particularly dangerous when society develops the feeling that the main criterion for an appointment is not professionalism, results or the ability to transform the country, but personal loyalty to the system,” he said.

Elections have been suspended in Ukraine since martial law was imposed at the start of the full-scale invasion by Russia. Zelensky’s five-year term ended in May 2024 but there has been little desire in Ukraine to hold a contest while war continues.

Trump has previously demanded that Ukraine hold an election, though his once-fraught relationship with Zelensky has gradually improved over the past year as Kyiv has shown it can hold its own on the battlefield.

Fedorov, 35, was Ukraine’s digital minister from 2019 until January, fronting the country’s wartime adoption of drones, before briefly serving in what was considered to be a successful stint as defence minister until July.

But he was suddenly dropped by Zelensky in a government reshuffle after a falling out with military commander Gen Oleksandr Syrsky. Street protests followed, leading to the sacking of Syrskyi, but there was no sign Fedorov would be reinstated.

On Tuesday Zelensky formally nominated Yevhen Khmara, the acting defence minister, to take the post permanently. Khmara’s nomination has to be confirmed by Ukraine’s parliament, and a vote is expected to take place on Wednesday.

Artem Bronzhukov, a Ukrainian political analyst, questioned whether it would be practical to hold elections given that Russian bombing was continuing. “Today there is no clear understanding of how to ensure people’s safety in the context of a full-scale war,” he said.

There was, he added, “a fairly deep-rooted view within Ukrainian society” that elections are necessary but only after the hot phase of the war ends – and that the country remained “a warring democracy – confirmed precisely by the protests taking place after Fedorov’s resignation from the government”.

Protests had been taking place nightly in a square below the presidential office in the heart of Kyiv, but the numbers attending had been dwindling. However, the campaign was relaunched in a special rally on Sunday night that attracted about 2,000 people with regular chants of “Fedorov, Fedorov, Fedorov …”

Polling conducted at the turn of the month reported the ex-minister would come third in the first round of a presidential election with 13.1%, behind Zelenskyy on 22.3% and the former head of the armed forces, who is now Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, Valery Zaluzhny, on 21.4%.

The same polling, conducted by the Socis Centre for Social Research, also concluded that Zelensky would then be defeated in the run-off election by both Fedorov and Zaluzhny. Ukraine uses a two-stage voting system.

#ukraine #defence #minister #elections

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