Ukraine ‘slowly losing’ war with Russia? Ousted defence minister warns Kyiv
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Ukraine ‘slowly losing’ war with Russia? Ousted defence minister warns Kyiv")
Former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov Photograph: (AFP)
Ukraine is “gradually, slowly losing” its war with Russia, ousted defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov warned, urging Kyiv to act within months and adopt a stronger strategy and new technologies.
Ukraine appears to be slowly losing ground in its war with Russia and has only a few months to make decisions that could change the course of the conflict, ousted Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said. Fedorov, who was removed from his post last month, said Kyiv lacked a clear strategy for winning the four-year-old war. He also blamed corruption, political interference and a failure to adopt new technologies quickly enough.
“I think that there’s now a turning point which will determine our future trajectory, but it looks as though we’re gradually, slowly losing,” Fedorov told Reuters.
His assessment sharply contrasts with Kyiv’s official messaging. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office hit back, saying Fedorov had expressed a positive view of the war while serving as minister and that only his personal status had changed.
Ukraine faces weapons crunch
Russia continues to pound Ukrainian factories and warehouses with ballistic missiles, while Kyiv’s stocks of air-defence interceptors are running low. Russian forces are also making slow advances in the Donbas, although at a slower pace than last year. Ukraine has responded with an expanding campaign of drone and missile strikes deep inside Russia, hitting military facilities and oil refineries.
Fedorov argued that Kyiv must accelerate work on autonomous drones using artificial intelligence, inexpensive interceptor missiles and its own ballistic missile programme.
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“Technologies exist already which could completely stop the Russians, but our absence of vision ... means we do not apply them,” he said, accusing the Ukrainian state of operating at “5 per cent effectiveness.”
Budget row and election call
Fedorov also defended his decision to bring forward defence spending, after President Volodymyr Zelensky said it had created a $27 billion budget gap.
The former minister disputed the figure and said his spending plan relied on procurement savings and international support.
His call for wartime elections has further deepened his clash with Zelensky. Ukraine remains under martial law, which prevents elections.
Fedorov, meanwhile, plans to pursue military technology projects and an investment fund while continuing his campaign for elections.
