Fedorov: “I will not accept any position other than minister of defense”

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s former minister of defense, commenting on positions offered to him by President Zelenskyy, has said he will not accept any post other than head of the Ministry of Defense.

Source: Fedorov’s comments to journalists on 23 July

Quote: “I am grateful to the president for all the options offered. But today there are only three positions in the country that, apart from the military on the battlefield, truly determine the course of the war – the president of Ukraine, the minister of defense and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

“That is why I will not accept any position other than that of minister of Defense.”

“None of the other positions has the real authority to combat corruption in procurement, to complete the ongoing transformation of the armed forces, to plan and implement asymmetric actions and operations against the enemy, to root out the culture of lies and irresponsibility within the system, and to finish the other things our team had already begun at the Ministry of Defense.”

Details: Fedorov added that he is not interested in position or status, but in the ability to truly influence the outcome and bring Ukraine’s victory closer.

He said that in January 2026, at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his team came to the Ministry of Defense with a concrete plan for how to end the war: protect the skies, stabilize the front line and strike at the enemy’s economy. “We called this plan Air-Land-Economy,” he said.

He added that over the course of six months they had been consistently implementing this plan: “For the first time in recent years, Ukraine began to seize the initiative. Our joint results created something that did not exist before – a window of opportunity to force Russia to make peace through strength”.

Background:

Since 16 July, protests in support of acting Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov have taken place near the President’s Office in Kyiv and in a number of Ukrainian cities. The protesters have been calling on the authorities to reinstate Fedorov in the new government and for Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi to be dismissed.
Commenting on the upcoming changes at the Defense Ministry, Zelenskyy acknowledged that Fedorov and Syrskyi had been unable to work together effectively and that problems on the battlefield, in military brigades and with mobilization remain unresolved.
Following six days of protests, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced his decision to dismiss Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and appoint Mykhailo Drapatyi to replace him.
Ex-serviceman Dmytro Koziatynskyi, who was previously calling on people to protest against the then commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, has urged Ukrainians to join a protest in Kyiv on 24 July demanding that Mykhailo Fedorov be reinstated as defense minister.