Zelensky’s ‘Restart’: Digital Chief Fedorov Named Defense Minister

President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed that Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov head the Ministry of Defense.

The president made the announcement in his evening video address on Facebook:

“I have also decided to change the working format of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. I have proposed to Mykhailo Fedorov that he become the new Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Mykhailo is deeply involved in the issues related to the Drone Line and works very effectively on digitalizing public services and processes. Together with all our military, the army command, national weapons producers, and Ukraine’s partners, we must implement defense-sector changes that will be of help…Mykhailo Fedorov will be able to implement all of this and add technological efficiency.”

The president also said current Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal will remain on the team in another role. According to Kyiv Post sources, Shmyhal may return to the energy sector, which has yet to fully recover from a recent corruption scandal, and from which Shmyhal came to the government six years ago.

Mykhailo Fedorov is the youngest minister in Ukraine’s history. He came to a ministerial position in the Ministry of Digitalization at the age of 28. A graduate of the Yale School of Management, he reformed the Ukrainian bureaucracy by transitioning most administrative services to an online format, which eliminated paper bureaucracy and queues in administrative bodies, transforming Ukraine’s system of providing administrative services into one of the leading ones in the world. During Russia’s full-scale invasion, he has been responsible for drone procurement.

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Fedorov, viewed as one of Zelensky’s closest associates, was widely considered as a possible replacement for Andriy Yermak as head of the Presidential Office before the position was ultimately filled by Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR).

Fedorov has not yet publicly commented on the president’s proposal.

Meanwhile, observers say Zelensky may announce further personnel changes within Ukraine’s security leadership, including possible replacements among regional military administration heads. The president has previously described the reshuffle as an “internal restart.”