POV: You're a defense minister from tech

Mykhailo Fedorov invited media representatives to talk about what his team has already done and plans to do in the next few months. And for the first time I heard the minister say that Ukraine has enough people to turn the tide in the war enough to put Russia at the table of proper negotiations.

It’s all about money and buying the right stuff to hit the right targets. Tech and data rule. So I’m very grateful once again to all our foreign friends who help. With our technology and your funds we can win soon.

So here are Fedorov’s key thoughts on a few things (only what is on rec).

We continue to build out a “short-range” air defense system, which has significantly improved the interception rate of Shahed drones. The share of Shahed drones shot down by interceptor drones has doubled over the past four months, even as the number of Shahed launches by Russia has increased by 35% monthly.

Over the past four months, deliveries of interceptor drones have increased 2.6 times. This is a cheaper, faster, and more scalable response to Russia’s mass attacks.

Improving air defense is a systemic effort. Our strategic goal is to reach a stable 95% interception rate for airborne targets. A key role in this process has been played by the introduction of after-action review, a standard NATO procedure for detailed analysis of combat operations after completion. For us, it has become one of the core elements in building a modern air defense system.

Together with the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and military units, we conduct a detailed review after each large-scale attack. We analyze the flight paths of each missile and drone, interception points, technical parameters, reasons certain targets were not shot down, and what needs to be adjusted in the work of mobile fire groups, electronic warfare systems, or interceptor drones.

This is a continuous adaptation cycle. The after-action review directly shapes how we reorganize air defense: how forces are deployed, how command is centralized, how regional leadership is assigned, and how we transition from temporary solutions to a permanent structure.

Following the President’s directive, we are currently focused on developing low-cost missiles to shoot down Shahed drones. We have already identified near-ready solutions and have begun testing them. Our task is to scale production by tens of times and build up stockpiles ahead of the autumn-winter period.

We aim to scale and reduce the cost of interceptor missiles to prepare for the emergence of jet-powered Shaheds. This will provide additional protection for critical infrastructure, alongside interceptor drones. To achieve this, we are issuing grants, scaling production, and relaunching team recruitment.

A “private air defense” initiative has already been launched and is actively developing.

Currently, 27 enterprises of various ownership forms from across Ukraine have joined the experimental program. There are no geographic restrictions, with participants including companies from Kharkiv, Odesa, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Zakarpattia, and other regions.

The Ministry of Defense has granted them authorized status to perform air defense tasks. They have subsequently coordinated with the Air Command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and begun forming their own air defense units.

These enterprises are currently at different stages of readiness for combat tasks, including personnel training, procurement of weapons (interceptor UAVs, electronic warfare systems, radar systems, automated turrets, etc.), and receiving weapons from Ukrainian Armed Forces stockpiles (machine guns, explosives).

The number of companies applying to join the experimental program is growing weekly. There is strong business interest in this initiative, which provides an additional means of protecting personnel and industrial capacity.

Today, it can be stated that air defense units from two enterprises are already fully conducting combat missions in close coordination with the Air Command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These units, located in the Kharkiv and Odesa regions, have already destroyed approximately 20 enemy Shahed drones and reconnaissance UAVs. There is also confirmed military verification of a downed jet-powered Shahed in the Kharkiv region. In the near future, several more enterprise-based air defense units will assume combat duty.

The use of any weapons by enterprise air defense units requires mandatory approval from the Air Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s second strategic objective is to stop enemy advances and regain the initiative on the front line.

Our strategic goal is to inflict at least 200 enemy losses for every square kilometer of advance.

Dynamics show that Ukraine has significantly slowed the enemy’s advance and is gradually regaining the initiative. At the same time, we are increasing active operations and liberating territory. 

Today, we are inflicting catastrophic losses on the enemy. In April, 35,203 Russian soldiers were killed or severely wounded - those who will not return to the battlefield. In March, the figure was 35,351; in December, 34,544.

All of these figures are verified through the ePoints system and confirmed by combat units.

Today, each kilometer of advance costs the enemy disproportionately high losses. In October, Russia lost 67 soldiers per square kilometer of advance; in January, 165; in February, 244; in March, 254; and in April, 179.

Several factors contributed to this.

First, the disabling of Starlink for Russian forces in February 2026. Russia has not been able to find a full replacement, giving Ukraine a critical battlefield advantage.

Second, the development of the mid-strike capability. We have actively begun procuring mid-strike drones, which have become one of the key technological advantages on the front line. We deliberately prioritized this direction, and the results are now visible. Data dashboards already show a clear pattern: the more enemy forces are destroyed at operational depth, the fewer assault operations occur on the front line.

The pace of military supply has significantly increased in 2026. The pace of supplying the army has increased significantly in 2026. If we compare what we delivered during the first four months of 2026 to the entire previous year, it is already a completely different scale. Supplies of fiber-optic FPV drones, heavy bombers, reconnaissance wings, mid-strike drones, deep-strike drones, Mavic-type drones, light bombers, Shahed interceptors, and other systems have all increased.

Mission Control Results

Mission Control is now a full-fledged real-time drone operations management and analytics system. While ePoints tracks confirmed effects and strikes, Mission Control covers every mission of every drone: flights, effectiveness, area coverage, asset utilization, and operator performance.

The system provides a full battlefield picture: where drones are lacking, which assets are effective, whether a given front sector is sufficiently monitored, and where gaps in situational awareness exist.

Through Mission Control, we receive real-time asset tracking, coordination with electronic warfare and air defense units, effectiveness analytics, and optimal resource allocation. It is an invaluable data foundation for data-driven warfare and real-time decision-making.

Over the coming months, we are focusing on three key areas.

From day one in this position, together with the President, we have been working on a comprehensive transformation of recruitment and service conditions within Ukraine’s Defense Forces. We are preparing to launch the first initiatives: a fair compensation model, a new contract system with clearly defined terms of service and a transparent rotation framework, new approaches to staffing military units, reducing the rate of unauthorized absence from service, and other reforms.

Second is the anti-corruption track. This summer will mark the transition to tender-based defense procurement. We have already conducted the largest competitive procurement for 155 mm long-range artillery shells, achieving over 16% in savings. The next step is moving drone procurement to tender processes. The goal is to build a transparent, competitive, and fast procurement system with minimal corruption risk. We are also launching reforms in R&D and state quality assurance.

Third, we are launching a baseline guaranteed minimum of drone supplies for brigades. Each unit must know the minimum level of equipment it is guaranteed to receive next month to plan operations effectively.