Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, is Ukraine's defence minister, well regarded for his earlier work as Minister of Digital Transformation. He was one of three names under consideration to replace Andriy Yermak as presidential chief of staff after Yermak was forced out over the Energoatom corruption scandal, alongside General Kyrylo Budanov and Sergiy Kyslytsya, the deputy foreign minister. In February 2025, while still Minister of Digital Transformation, he announced that a dozen Ukrainian companies were working on drone swarms and the first was intended to be in service by the end of that year. He has presented a three-part vision for regaining the battleground initiative: "closing the skies" (his first priority), raising Russia's rate of attrition, and squeezing Russia's economy. As defence minister he has called for more drones to hit Russia beyond Ukraine's borders, including strikes on shadow-fleet tankers.
The two oldest professions in the world have been ruined by amateurs.