At his first briefing after stepping down as Minister of Defense, Mykhailo Fedorov complains about anonymous Telegram channels that have been harassing him recently, emphasizing that no one talks about it, and urges journalists to correct this situation.
This is evidence of either a dramatic misunderstanding of the situation or an unwillingness to understand it. I have been publicly speaking about the danger of anonymous channels for many years. Opposition deputies talk about it. Independent journalists talk about it. We also talk about the reason why this happened.
This is a marathon, this is the disconnection of independent TV channels from digital broadcasting. This is the Presidential Office’s bet on Telegram. On bots. On liars. On scoundrels. And not only their own liars. A possibility has been created for Russians and their agents to pose as their own liars and attack the Ukrainian state and government.
The former minister somehow did not notice this danger before. Even now, when Fedorov’s career in Zelensky’s entourage is ending, his biggest concern is not to be perceived as a “porokhobot.” An offensive term that emerged during the 2019 election campaign. It was invented by the same servile Little Russians who coined Mazepintsy, Petlyurivtsy, Banderivtsy. For Moscow’s pleasure.
I will not question Fedorov’s reformist intentions and achievements in the Ministry of Defense. I see before me a young person inexperienced in political processes, who even now does not realize that without structural changes, no real transformations can occur.
But this could have been a personal problem of the former minister if it were not exactly the same position of those who defend him. Those who do not ask a simple question — why are governments appointed this way, why are ministers appointed and dismissed this way? Why is a successful minister like a lottery ticket?
If it weren’t for the Halushchenko case, Shmyhal would still be the Minister of Defense. The Ministry of Digital Transformation would still be engaged in drones, which the Ministry of Defense should be handling. What did Svyrydenko do wrong? How was she better than Shmyhal? Why does the parliament not deal with all this, as it is its direct function and prerogative?
Precisely because most people are not interested in this, and they flutter like butterflies towards any bright persona who they think will change everything, we will continue to live in the paradigm of the “Servant of the People” series and the brilliantly organized election campaign of Zelensky by Fedorov and others in 2019.
With an amendment for war and death.
The appointment of Mykhailo Fedorov as Minister of Defense at the beginning of this year was an attempt by the President’s Office to mitigate the impact of the revelation of a large-scale corruption scheme by the president’s closest friends. In fact, Fedorov was saving the president’s reputation from Mindich-gate with his own reputation, and I am sure he could not have failed to understand this.
A few months later, the crisis more or less subsided, and apparently, the need for Fedorov’s services disappeared.
I will not comment on how effective Mykhailo Fedorov was as a minister. But I state the obvious fact: during the war, the key Ministry of Defense is being used as a PR tool of the President’s Office. When the fourth Minister of Defense, just like the previous Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, is dismissed without any explanation, it is either some deep strategy or sheer unprofessionalism.
Ukraine is in a deep management crisis. Everyone sees that Mykhailo Fedorov or Yuliya Svyrydenko are dismissed very easily and without any explanations, while, for example, Andrii Yermak was dismissed with difficulty and only after NABU searches. Ministers are appointed and dismissed without any state strategy, depending on the mood in certain offices on Bankova Street.
And this is the biggest problem for the whole society. After all, irresponsibility inevitably leads to detachment from reality. During the war, this poses obvious risks not only for the authorities but also for the entire country.
The authorities behave as if it’s still spring 2019 on the calendar. But at least since February 2022, we have a completely different country. We will never be able to achieve respect for our state from others if we do not respect our country, its laws, and its people ourselves.
So we talked with Fedorov about the need to make anonymous Telegram channels transparent because they spread lies with impunity! Immediately after that, Telegram channels began to spread lies with impunity. They confirmed the truth. They released a “news” that Fedorov distanced himself from “Porokhobots.”
How it really was – watch the video. It was in jest. And that being in European Solidarity is dangerous – this is long not a secret. Tons of dirt are poured on us from these Telegram channels, and now Mykhailo has felt this himself. That’s what we talked about.
There will still be many lies about him, about us, about everyone who opposes foolishness and corruption. The current government can’t do it any other way.
