English transcript
Full English Translation of the Transcript
Translated from the cleaned Ukrainian auto-generated YouTube transcript. Unclear source passages are kept close to the apparent meaning without adding unsupported details.
[00:00] Today, I would like to briefly talk about the results of my work as Minister of Defence.
[00:05] In fact, my work in defence began earlier, with the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
[00:11] You remember the story with Starlink and Elon Musk, then the Army of Drones, and so on.
[00:16] My work in the president’s government began back in 2019.
[00:20] And I am probably now the last minister who was the first minister from the first government and the last one to be dismissed today, yesterday, or the day before yesterday.
[00:35] And I will say honestly that for [unclear] years, like the representatives of the Servant of the People faction present here today, we faithfully served our ideas and the president as one team.
[00:49] I did not build a political career, create my own companies, or engage in business.
[00:54] I can say that, among the people around the president, I was probably the person who valued him most – and still values him most – among those he has around him.
[01:03] And I never let him down in anything.
[01:06] Just as, in principle, I never let you down either.
[01:08] There were no corruption scandals and no schemes were built.
[01:12] We built a digital state starting in 2019.
[01:19] And judging by public opinion polls, this is probably the largest reform overall that Ukrainian citizens regard as having succeeded.
[01:29] We launched Diia, Mriia, the best tax regime in Europe, Diia.City, and generally changed the tax system for technology companies.
[01:36] Later, the companies that began producing weapons – defence companies – joined this regime.
[01:40] We built telecommunications, made it through difficult winters, maintained connectivity, and faced a large number of problems and cyberattacks, but together we built a digital state.
[01:48] And then, beginning in 2022, our entire team started working on the war while I was Minister of Digital Transformation.
[01:58] Today, I would like to discuss the results of my work not only over the last six months, but since 2022.
[02:05] My aim is to show what worked, because these are, in essence, architecturally important things that will allow us to continue striking the enemy, retaking our land, preventing the enemy from advancing, and protecting our cities – what must not be dismantled, what needs to be supported, and, overall, what problems remain.
[02:28] I think the time has come to speak to Ukrainians as adults, you know.
[02:34] There are certain problems that need to be solved.
[02:36] They cannot be kept quiet.
[02:40] And I would like to speak about them today.
[02:44] Why is this slide called “Our Shared Story”?
[02:45] This document that I am going to show you actually has a story of its own.
[02:48] Only two people had seen this document – three if you count the designer – me and the president.
[02:56] A month after I began working at the Ministry of Defence, when we started auditing the ministry, examining what was happening in general, and speaking with military personnel.
[03:07] In other words, you know, the classic first stage of work at any institution or organisation.
[03:12] We identified a number of problems and highlighted them frankly in order to determine what needed to change so that we could achieve our goal of stopping the enemy and signing a genuinely just peace.
[03:22] And we went through this document with the president.
[03:28] I showed him what he and I had managed to achieve.
[03:34] Our shared story.
[03:34] It is my story with the president, because I would not have achieved any of the accomplishments that exist today if we had not been on the same team.
[03:42] On the other hand, it is now our shared story as Ukrainians, because today 95% of the enemy is killed by drones.
[03:49] Together, we defend our skies with drones.
[03:53] And we do many different technological things.
[03:55] It all began in 2022, when we adopted an unprecedented approach that the government supported at the time.
[04:03] This meant increasing the permitted profit margin for drone companies and opening the market with margins of up to 25%.
[04:09] These are among the best conditions in the world for creating a business in general.
[04:13] We analysed it – every country has done this.
[04:15] Next, at the president’s instruction, we launched the UNITED24 fundraising platform and the first Army of Drones fundraising campaign.
[04:24] That was when the term “Army of Drones” appeared in the first place.
[04:25] We began raising money.
[04:27] The money was used to invest in drones and make the first purchases.
[04:32] At that time, the Ministry of Defence was not buying drones.
[04:34] So this decision had to be made.
[04:37] Next.
[04:37] Financing and developing naval drones.
[04:39] I want to remind you that the first naval drones purchased on a more or less industrial scale were acquired thanks to fundraising campaigns.
[04:47] After that, they began striking Russian ships.
[04:49] Today there are already many companies, a market, and government orders, but we started it as a start-up, and we did it together.
[04:58] Purchasing the first deep-strike systems.
[04:58] I remember how the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine used its first deep-strike drone to hit its first target, and how the drone reached it.
[05:02] At the time, we purchased those first deep-strike drones through the State Service of Special Communications.
[05:09] They began operating and delivering results.
[05:13] Today these are our long-range sanctions, which the whole world talks about.
[05:17] Today this is our map, something that cannot be concealed.
[05:22] And this is also an important part of our technological story.
[05:25] This is the development of the DELTA system.
[05:26] Frankly, we saved it from every commander-in-chief I met, because there was always a certain culture of wanting to do something to DELTA.
[05:34] But today DELTA is something the entire world needs.
[05:39] Network-centric warfare built on the best electronic warfare-management system, one that was born among the military in our country.
[05:49] Next came the introduction of strike-drone companies in the Armed Forces.
[05:52] Later, this evolved into the Unmanned Systems Forces.
[05:54] But we also launched the first strike-drone companies without state budget funding.
[05:59] We looked for money from companies and bought pickup trucks and the first drones.
[06:04] In other words, this was something we believed in very strongly.
[06:09] We understood that this was the future.
[06:11] Despite everything, we found the resources to keep working on it.
[06:13] Next came the creation of ePoints themselves.
[06:15] Everyone knows the electronic system.
[06:17] This was a game changer for everyone [source unclear].
[06:19] The system became an example for the entire world.
[06:22] Thanks to the system, our units can now use electronic points earned on the battlefield for destroying the enemy, with video verification.
[06:33] Through the “Amazon for war”, Brave1 Market, they can buy drones.
[06:35] This helps us win in every innovation cycle, because products are updated every two or three months.
[06:43] These are fast funds and fast points that help the military obtain modern technologies.
[06:51] Next, the decree establishing the Unmanned Systems Forces was signed.
[06:53] I remember that story.
[06:56] The president and I were together in his office and had long been discussing the creation of unmanned forces.
[07:01] And then we wrote that decree.
[07:03] It was signed quickly.
[07:05] Today everyone knows the achievements of Magyar, who does his job well and simply destroys Russian tankers and targets on the battlefield.
[07:13] And we are all proud of what we managed to create and the system we managed to build.
[07:18] Then the Drone Line was launched, and today, depending on the month, it kills every third or every fourth Russian on the battlefield.
[07:25] Essentially, using ePoints, we selected the best units because an objective-control system had emerged, and we began providing those units with direct cash financing.
[07:37] And those units began to grow.
[07:40] Our logic was that, if we supported the strongest units while there was no time to build a system – although the system still had to be built, and we will discuss that later –
[07:49] then what we could do quickly was help the strongest units.
[07:53] And we began financing those units.
[07:56] We began financing Pasha Lazar’s Lazar Group and providing it with billions in funding.
[08:00] We provided Alpha units with billions for development.
[08:07] Magyar and all the others – Achilles, all the leading units, Rarog, K–2, all the units you know – began receiving billions so that they could invest and destroy the enemy today.
[08:17] This emerged on the basis of ePoints.
[08:20] It was created on the basis of the drone market and strike-drone companies.
[08:26] You understand how everything is interconnected, how it is financed, and how it is implemented.
[08:29] Then came financing and the opening of the market.
[08:36] The explosives market, which is also an important stage in our country’s development.
[08:41] Recently, by the way, we provided almost one billion in grants to the private sector, to start-ups – or no longer start-ups, but innovative manufacturers.
[08:49] We opened the market for unmanned ground vehicles and many other markets, but this case is illustrative because an aggressive decision was made to open the interceptor-drone market and begin testing them in combat mode in several regions, allowing private companies to enter those regions, integrate with the air-defence system, test interceptors against Shaheds in real time, and receive, I do not remember exactly, USD 10,000–20,000 as
[09:18] an incentive to continue developing. This was an unconventional decision.
[09:20] And everyone opposed that decision.
[09:22] But at the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the president said, “We are going into battle.”
[09:24] And we made the decision.
[09:26] Today, interceptors shoot down 70%, 80%, or 90% of the Shaheds flying over our country.
[09:33] I have already spoken a little about unmanned ground vehicles, but the sabotage of the system that always existed – well, this probably concerns every traditional army, and that is normal.
[09:45] That is why civilian control exists, why a certain dialogue exists, and why this development exists.
[09:49] It is a normal process that has to take place.
[09:50] But last year, we managed to contract 12,000 unmanned ground vehicles, which many people opposed.
[09:57] But again, a political decision was made – we move forward and sign the contracts.
[10:01] This year, 50,000 unmanned ground vehicles will be purchased, which is a record number.
[10:06] And today, everything that can be bought is being bought.
[10:08] By the way, you can see that there is no information here about the last six months.
[10:12] You can read that information on social media – everything has been published there.
[10:18] Today, the task is to explain the architecture of what we are doing, rather than individual projects or, I do not know, specific results in one area or another.
[10:28] The task is to explain the architecture of everything that is happening and why it matters for our country.
[10:33] Next came the launch of drone-assault units.
[10:37] Please do not confuse them with assault units – I mean specifically drone-assault units, because under modern conditions it is impossible not to make technology the key element around which the organisation is built.
[10:50] A decision was also made to support several units – KOD 9.2, the First Separate Assault Regiment – with additional financing so that they would receive the resources and money to demonstrate how drones should first destroy everything, after which infantry enters and retakes territory with minimal losses.
[11:08] And KOD 9.2, together with Khartiia, retook Kupiansk.
[11:13] The money they received allowed them to invest in building that capability.
[11:19] And this is an example of how a modern army should fight.
[11:23] The drones work first, and then the people work.
[11:26] And we preserve the lives of our servicemembers.
[11:29] We have also already spoken about Operation Auchan – the destruction of equipment.
[11:31] That operation was built specifically around the Lazar Group and Nemesis: we simply combined a large number of copters, launched thousands of drones out to a range of 50 kilometres over several nights, and destroyed more than 700 pieces of equipment.
[11:47] This asymmetric operation, which took place in May last year, resulted in there being no mechanised enemy attack from May through October.
[11:56] That equipment was simply destroyed.
[12:00] This year, we repeated it with Operation Auchan–2 and destroyed 250 enemy artillery systems over two nights – 250 systems – because we continue to lose people to Russian artillery.
[12:15] We also discussed the regular decisions to finance Lazar and Alpha.
[12:19] Today Alpha ranks first in killing Russians, if we are talking about the ePoints system.
[12:24] Lazar is also certainly among the top five.
[12:26] So this did not concern only the Armed Forces, but the Defence Forces as a whole.
[12:32] And those decisions also had to be defended.
[12:33] Another important decision that was made at the beginning, and which is also architecturally important, was the disconnection at the start of our work at the Ministry of Defence.
[12:42] The disconnection of Starlink for the Russians.
[12:45] We had a conversation with Elon Musk after the first Shahed carrying Starlink flew over the city, over Kyiv and then central Kyiv, and even over the Ministry of Defence building. We realised that, unless we switched off Starlink for the Russians immediately, it would become our problem.
[13:03] Operator-controlled Shaheds that cannot be suppressed by electronic warfare would change their flight trajectories and could destroy all our air-defence systems, Patriots, F–16s, and much more.
[13:13] So that conversation took place. We could say there was only a 1% chance that we would manage to do it, but Elon said, “Let us just talk by video.”
[13:26] And that was our first video conversation.
[13:27] We had always communicated by text before. We spoke, and he said, “Okay, I will do it.”
[13:31] Whitelists.
[13:33] He said, “The only thing is that I will have to change the rules and conditions for Starlink buyers across a large country.”
[13:38] And from a business perspective,
[13:40] what does it mean that you now need to register them?
[13:42] A change in Starlink’s rules.
[13:44] It looks catastrophic.
[13:47] How will your people react – like, “Elon, what are you doing?”
[13:51] But thanks to the digital state that had already been built, a large number of Starlink terminals were registered through administrative service centres and through Diia.
[13:57] SpaceX itself was shocked that we could implement projects like that within a matter of days.
[14:05] The next important stage was the creation of short-range air defence.
[14:10] This was also an architecturally important decision made after I took office as Minister of Defence and our team began working.
[14:17] You know that we proposed Pavlo Yelizarov.
[14:21] Today, by the way, he submitted a report requesting discharge from service.
[14:26] I hope everything will still change, but our idea was to build a short-range air-defence system capable of intercepting at least 95% of all Shaheds and cruise missiles through organisation and new technologies.
[14:41] And we encountered many problems in trying to implement it fully.
[14:45] We will discuss that later, but this is also a decision that changes how we organise our work asymmetrically to defend against the Russians.
[14:55] Overall, our task – which we have already declared, so there is nothing new here – is to stop the enemy’s advance as much as possible and force the enemy to halt.
[15:05] We called this doctrine “Airland Economy” [term unclear in source].
[15:10] Intercept as many cruise missiles, drones, and ballistic missiles as possible.
[15:14] Stop the enemy’s advance on the battlefield.
[15:16] And make sure Russia cannot finance the war.
[15:19] Every decision at the Ministry of Defence was made on the basis of that plan.
[15:25] Is it within the concept, or outside the concept?
[15:27] Working on universities is important, but building a short-range air-defence system is important.
[15:33] Building colleges is important, but making organisational changes on a particular section of the front is important, and so on.
[15:40] So this was our philosophy, the coordinate system within which we worked.
[15:45] What problems did I understand after a month of working inside the Ministry of Defence – the problems we discussed?
[15:55] First, the war is now being fought more at the operational level, but we are fighting at the tactical level.
[15:59] Russia always works in operational depth.
[16:04] Russia was built doctrinally that way.
[16:07] It essentially created this concept in practice, while our organisation was built – and is only now transforming into a corps system – around a model that operated more at the tactical level.
[16:20] You can see how work at the operational level and mid-range strikes changed the situation.
[16:24] Second, the corps system has not become fully operational.
[16:29] We have successful corps that advance every month or at least do not lose territory.
[16:34] And we have corps whose commanders are constantly being replaced.
[16:38] We have corps that have already become a school and a philosophy.
[16:44] And there are corps where we do not even know how many brigades they contain or what is happening there.
[16:49] In reality, everything depends on organisation.
[16:51] But corps do not receive and distribute all resources among the brigades within them.
[16:58] Why do some corps have five brigades while others have twelve?
[17:01] And this brings us to the third problem – the fragmentation of brigades and corps.
[17:06] There are brigades that cannot even determine how many battalions they have.
[17:11] A battalion is pulled out of one brigade and thrown into another.
[17:12] In such a system, it is impossible to build a management system.
[17:16] No one is responsible for anything.
[17:19] This is a complete classic.
[17:21] The people on the front who were, in principle, carrying out certain tasks are always blamed and investigated; responsibility is always pushed down onto someone else.
[17:29] It is simply a culture that has developed over the years.
[17:32] No one bears responsibility.
[17:36] Someone else is always at fault.
[17:36] Or there will be an investigation, and we will decide who will be guilty.
[17:41] Next.
[17:44] Constant replacement.
[17:44] Constant replacement of commanders.
[17:47] This is another recurring problem.
[17:49] Brigade commanders are changed.
[17:51] A brigade commander arrives, works for a month, and is removed.
[17:54] Another arrives and is removed.
[17:56] This is closely connected to point four – no one is responsible for anything – but with this kind of organisation it is impossible to conduct operations, build anything, forecast, or plan.
[18:05] Next, supplies do not go through the corps.
[18:08] This is another problem I mentioned briefly. The supply problem is fundamental, because over the last five months we purchased more drones than during the entire previous year, yet most units did not feel it because resources are distributed manually.
[18:25] A loyal unit received them; a disloyal one did not.
[18:29] As a result, units cannot plan their future.
[18:35] So we launched [the process]. For four months, it was hell.
[18:39] By the way, this is connected to the last item, number ten – blocked initiatives and bureaucratic crossfire led to us spending four months approving a simple draft order on the basic provision of drones to brigades.
[18:50] If we purchase a large number of drones, let us ensure that every brigade and corps receives a certain quantity of resources so it can plan its subsequent actions on the battlefield.
[19:00] After four months of revisions, we finally signed the order and managed to launch it.
[19:09] We will see how it actually works in the military.
[19:11] The next point is the isolation and stigmatisation of those who develop and succeed.
[19:18] You are doing well – great – but Drapatyi is sent to the sidelines.
[19:21] A third reprimand.
[19:21] Goodbye.
[19:24] I am sorry, Drapatyi.
[19:24] I think you will receive a fourth reprimand after this speech.
[19:26] I would not like that to happen, but we no longer have the option of not speaking about it.
[19:30] In other words, when someone succeeds – Lazar in the Air Force, for example – fine, we will refuse for two months to sign off on some commander for you, refuse to provide distribution, and organise training for you so that you deal with bureaucracy instead of work, and so on.
[19:46] This is a constant problem.
[19:49] It is impossible to implement any systemic project because you constantly encounter the same response: “Why? How? Do we really have to push this through?”
[19:58] There are many different projects I mentioned during my speech in parliament – that we can do this, that we need to bury logistics underground, that the battlefield situation will change, and that there will now be a second front in the air – but implementing all that further requires organisational capacity.
[20:15] The depletion of human capital without analysis.
[20:21] In fact, we did a great deal of work.
[20:21] For the first time, we built a system for real-time analysis of battlefield losses.
[20:28] We began receiving daily loss reports, but decisions about whom to support or not support, whom to reinforce or not reinforce, are not made on the basis of data.
[20:38] They are made on the basis of loyalty, and a system cannot be developed on that basis.
[20:44] Blocking initiatives and bureaucratic crossfire.
[20:46] During six months at the Ministry of Defence, we were unable to establish centres of competence or change the organisational structure because the General Staff would not approve that structure – because a name was wrong, because something else was wrong.
[20:57] In other words, supposedly there is no need to bring in new people capable of generating ideas.
[21:01] We always hacked around this with unconventional solutions and continue to do so, but overall it does not work when we are talking about a serious system.
[21:07] We were unable to transfer people – I do not know, perhaps three or five people were transferred into the Ministry of Defence during the entire period.
[21:13] Just imagine: a country at war that generates solutions cannot transfer people into the Ministry of Defence because there is a certain blockage.
[21:19] And then there is the constant lying – including claims concerning me, that I supposedly commissioned the investigation into Skeli.
[21:29] No – it was not I who created Skeli or any other unit and allowed what was happening there. Instead, the story becomes that I launched a media campaign, I did this, or someone else did something.
[21:38] This is a culture that has developed overall, and it simply has to be eradicated. Otherwise, we will not be able to defeat an enemy whose system has the same things happening within it.
[21:44] What solutions were proposed at that point?
[21:47] Radical personnel decisions.
[21:49] Replacing both the Commander-in-Chief and the Chief of the General Staff.
[21:55] Today I promised that we needed to speak as adults.
[21:59] In reality, we have no other option if we want to defeat the enemy asymmetrically and with minimal losses – in a system where strong leaders and commanders are allowed to develop instead of being suppressed, written off, given reprimands, and so on.
[22:17] A modern organisation built on technology requires leadership in management.
[22:22] It involves many sensors, working with IT specialists, working with intelligent people, and attracting them without resources or high salaries.
[22:31] It requires an entirely different kind of management.
[22:33] Appointing strong corps commanders.
[22:35] We also have several corps that everyone knows.
[22:40] The Third, Khartiia, the Eighth Air Assault Corps.
[22:42] Many corps are delivering results.
[22:44] And many corps contain thirteen brigades each.
[22:46] They cannot build an effective management structure.
[22:50] We do not know who is responsible for what, who was appointed, or who bears responsibility for anything at all.
[22:57] Third – drone-assault forces.
[23:01] This means changing the concept of how we employ infantry.
[23:02] A decree establishing operational response forces has now been signed.
[23:07] I hope that this will form the basis of the drone-assault units – in the sense that technology fights, we lose drones rather than people, and infantry enters afterward.
[23:15] Because we must fight for every person.
[23:17] We simply cannot mobilise the same numbers as the Russians.
[23:21] We need to fight asymmetrically.
[23:23] Everything we do successfully concerns technology and asymmetry.
[23:27] Aligning the front line and implementing doctrine.
[23:30] I will not go into detail here.
[23:32] What this means is that we should not lose people where losses can be avoided. We must proceed from the terrain and the situation, minimise personnel losses, and at the same time build defensive lines that allow us to wear the enemy down as much as possible and stop its advance.
[23:49] Distributing all resources through the corps.
[23:52] We have already discussed this – personnel, drones, artillery, training, and so on.
[23:57] At present, corps hold a sector but are not responsible for distributing everything within it.
[24:02] Who is responsible for a sector of the front?
[24:05] The brigade.
[24:08] Yes, a brigade is part of a corps, and the corps should operate in operational depth to reduce the burden on the first line.
[24:12] But the brigade does not receive the mid-range strike systems – the corps receives them.
[24:17] So the situation that emerges is that, ultimately, no one is responsible for the first line.
[24:22] The purpose of the basic provision standard is precisely to ensure that brigades and corps have the means to perform their tasks and make forecasts.
[24:32] This is a broader subject and is not directly related to today’s meeting.
[24:36] It concerns the need to build an academy of modern warfare.
[24:40] We need a school of leadership, and we need the president to create this academy so that we have a school that teaches how to fight – so that, alongside captain training, we have institutions where we demonstrate modern doctrine, explain what we do and what works at the front, and show how to apply that experience, allowing us to generate new leaders capable of developing and commanding staffs
[25:02] and units.
[25:04] Another element is a consortium for ballistic and anti-ballistic technologies.
[25:07] There is good news here.
[25:07] The consortium was signed on Monday, and everything is moving forward.
[25:11] Closing the sky.
[25:11] Today we discussed the organisational problems that exist.
[25:15] And winning the economic war.
[25:17] Work in this area is also moving forward reasonably well at the moment.
[25:20] I will not speak about the tenth point – it is, let us say, somewhat classified.
[25:25] What else?
[25:28] The transformation of the Defence Forces themselves; opening – as we have discussed – controlled exports; and suppressing corruption in procurement.
[25:35] I think you will have questions about procurement, and we will answer them, but in reality we managed to accomplish a great deal.
[25:44] We opened exports, which will begin operating soon, and we suppressed corruption in procurement.
[25:47] We began the first stages.
[25:47] This is an important slide showing what asymmetry and the courage of Ukrainian warriors produce.
[25:56] These are territorial losses and liberated territories from October through June.
[26:01] Red shows what we lost, and yellow shows what we managed to retake.
[26:03] You can see a positive trend.
[26:06] Starlink became a complete game changer in January and February.
[26:11] The Russians were unable to replace Starlink with anything.
[26:14] The Russians continue to lose personnel and infantry.
[26:17] Their assaults are no longer conducted by groups – not even small groups – but by individual soldiers.
[26:21] And this is creating major problems for them.
[26:23] These are Russian losses by month.
[26:26] What is the current situation?
[26:28] Thanks to the ePoints system, we continue to eliminate 27,000–35,000 Russians.
[26:30] The next slide is also important and is based on the ePoints system.
[26:36] These are statistics for UAV strikes at ranges of more than 20 kilometres.
[26:40] Look at the trend – how many targets we were destroying beyond 20 kilometres in January and how many we are destroying in June.
[26:47] This resulted from the system we created in procurement and the correct procurement decisions made in February, when the funds were brought forward.
[26:53] Again, I will not repeat this today because it can be read on social media.
[27:00] That system produced these statistics, despite the resistance that constantly has to be overcome in order to achieve them.
[27:07] This is the range beyond 50 kilometres.
[27:07] Look at the trend.
[27:14] I think that, with this slide, we can move to questions and answers.
[27:19] Is that right, Snizhana?
[27:22] Yes.
[27:22] Please raise your hand.
[27:24] You will be given a microphone.
[27:24] Please wait, and we will work through the answers.
[27:28] Questions.
[27:28] Yes, I can see the microphones.
[27:31] Let us start with Politico.
[27:38] Good afternoon.
[27:38] Thank you very much for the presentation.
[27:41] Yesterday, I spoke with your critics, and they said that, in principle, everyone here has become a victim of a battle between two egos – yours and Syrskyi’s.
[27:49] I wanted to ask why you really were unable to work with Syrskyi.
[27:55] Because, in principle, you should have the same objective – to win the war.
[28:00] But you have just described what the General Staff did with your initiatives.
[28:07] I do not understand the logic.
[28:07] Why slow them down if we have the same objective?
[28:09] Could you explain whether we have become victims of ego?
[28:13] Thank you very much.
[28:14] Yes, I can answer that question.
[28:17] In fact, when the president said that he did not plan to replace Syrskyi, that was his decision as Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
[28:25] I fully accepted that decision and said, “Then I will learn to work with him, because ultimately our client is the Ukrainian people, not some other party or someone else.”
[28:37] So we had to work together.
[28:39] But we encountered a situation in which every initiative we proposed began to be blocked.
[28:44] And, despite all the problems we have discussed today, Syrskyi is not prepared to discuss the problems personally, openly, and face to face.
[28:54] He is prepared to attend separate meetings, weave intrigues, and assume that someone commissioned a media campaign, rather than recognise that the problem lies in the actions taking place.
[29:06] This ultimately led him to issue an ultimatum, as we all know.
[29:15] And instead of devising a way to defeat Russia asymmetrically – which is the Commander-in-Chief’s task – he devised a way to split the country, which is where we find ourselves today.
[29:25] And that is a major problem, because by nature I am not the kind of person who goes around complaining about existing problems.
[29:34] There are analytics. I come in and say, “If we want to win, this is what we need to do.”
[29:37] But I did not set a condition that it was either me or Syrskyi.
[29:40] I said, “Then we will defeat Russia with this Commander-in-Chief.”
[29:45] Because in reality Syrskyi saved our country in 2022.
[29:50] Among other things, he conducted and participated in the Kyiv operation, conducted the Kharkiv operation, participated in the Kherson operation, and was involved in many different operations.
[29:57] We cannot dismiss such a commander or underestimate him, but the war has changed completely.
[30:06] A drone changes its entire architecture, or acquires some new features, at least four times a year.
[30:18] Certain elements of the technology change 20–30 times.
[30:21] The management system has changed within a year, and we must change with it.
[30:24] We cannot continue relying on what existed then.
[30:29] We therefore have to understand what worked well at that time and what we need to do now in order to defeat Russia.
[30:37] Because the Ukrainian people remain our client in this work.
[30:38] So I do not think this is a problem of ego.
[30:42] I think there are other reasons behind it.
[30:48] But at that point I was prepared to work.
[30:48] Yet, as I have said, many documents remained unsigned.
[30:51] I spoke about this frankly: if we know how to play the bureaucratic game, then let us do it.
[31:00] I was told, “Do not touch him.”
[31:00] And I tolerated it and was prepared to work calmly until the Commander-in-Chief issued an ultimatum.
[31:15] Colleagues, who else has a question, please?
[31:19] Yes, Reuters.
[31:22] It is rather hot in here, is it not?
[31:24] I sincerely apologise for that.
[31:27] Good afternoon.
[31:27] Max Hunder, Reuters.
[31:27] Could you describe your plans from this point and the outcome of your conversation with the president yesterday? Did he offer you any further role?
[31:37] Whether he did or did not, what are your plans?
[31:43] I had a normal conversation with the president yesterday.
[31:45] He offered me a position as an adviser or suggested finding some other way for me to remain on the team.
[31:51] I declined the adviser position.
[31:53] I never had the objective of becoming a minister, remaining a minister, finding positions for myself, and so on.
[31:57] In principle, today’s meeting with you is something I am doing because I believe it is right internally and in terms of my values.
[32:07] I can see that it cannot continue this way – the truth has to be told.
[32:13] You cannot be held hostage by certain obligations.
[32:15] During seven years, no one can criticise me for engaging in political activity, participating in corruption, building schemes, or pursuing some other agenda.
[32:28] For [unclear] years alongside the president, I carried out reforms and worked at the most intense points of the country’s transformation wherever I was sent.
[32:37] But today is not about me.
[32:39] Today is about all of us.
[32:42] Either we close our eyes and say, “Okay.”
[32:48] Let everything remain as it was.
[32:48] Or we say, “Stop. The Ukrainian people know how to fight.”
[32:51] In 2022, the Ukrainian people came out and showed the Russians that they had underestimated them.
[32:56] And Ukrainians have the tools to stop the enemy now.
[33:00] We must not become like the Russians.
[33:02] We must change our approaches, and we must tell the truth.
[33:05] So the conversation was normal, but, let us put it this way, a choice has probably been made or will be made – I do not know. Today my task is to show what we accomplished and explain the risks facing all of us, because I have been working on this 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for four years.
[33:30] I do not want to look my children in the eyes later and know that I failed to speak about what was actually happening.
[33:38] By the way, I have been saying most of what I told you today all along.
[33:44] You can watch my interviews.
[33:44] I have not come out with some sensational story saying something new and shocking.
[33:51] I have simply systematised the issues, shown the problems we face, and explained what needs to be done.
[34:00] Yes, thank you.
[34:00] Yaroslava, please give the microphone to the person at the end of the back row, so that the questions are distributed proportionally.
[34:05] Hello, Marko from Forbes Ukraine.
[34:08] We have read and seen that one of the criticisms directed at you is that you failed to resolve the mobilisation problem, while Russia is expected to conduct mobilisation in the autumn.
[34:22] Please tell us your response to that criticism and to the question of Russian mobilisation.
[34:27] What was your plan for countering it?
[34:30] Thank you.
[34:33] Look, for six months I did not respond at all to the hatred directed at me over mobilisation, because I wanted to avoid the situation that has arisen today and to which, in essence, the Commander-in-Chief and General Staff brought us – although I do not know who designed this whole story.
[34:48] I did not want to say, “It was not me,” or evade any responsibility that I might bear.
[34:52] But whom do the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centres report to?
[34:57] The Ground Forces.
[34:57] Whom do the Ground Forces report to?
[35:02] The Commander-in-Chief.
[35:02] And the General Staff handles and oversees these issues.
[35:07] Policies have been established – including a policy under which masks have to be worn.
[35:13] But let us speak frankly, since we agreed to speak as adults today: masks are worn because there is no accountability for attacks on recruitment-centre personnel.
[35:26] There is another problem and another side to the answer.
[35:26] There is no simple black-and-white side here, but the mobilisation issue cannot actually be resolved unless the issues I have shown you are resolved.
[35:36] Do you know what young people are discussing now?
[35:42] They are not discussing the new contracts we launched – two-year contracts, fourteen-month contracts, and so on.
[35:47] They are discussing the former commander of the 155th Brigade, who caused the greatest harm that could possibly have been caused during a full-scale war.
[35:57] And they are discussing assault units – or, more precisely, particular situations, because we should not generalise about every assault unit, but rather the specific situations that occurred there.
[36:09] Therefore, the mobilisation issue cannot be resolved without a new social contract and real changes in the military.
[36:18] Why is the Third Assault Corps the largest corps anywhere along the front line?
[36:23] Because its processes are built properly, because there is responsibility for its sector.
[36:27] It has a defined area of responsibility; all its brigades are assembled within the Third Corps; there is a clear chain of command, a doctrine, proper provision, and leadership. Whoever you meet there, the people selected have such strong skills that they are all competent and understand any issue.
[36:44] The same is true of Khartiia and other units that deliver results.
[36:49] They do not have the same mobilisation problem.
[36:52] Khartiia has a queue of at least 2,000 foreigners who want to come and join it now.
[36:57] At least 2,000.
[37:01] The root of the problem is actually our product: what are we selling?
[37:05] We are selling lies, chaos, and irresponsibility.
[37:10] “Go, go – it is not mined there,” or what exactly are we selling?
[37:12] We therefore need to change our product radically.
[37:17] Ukrainians have earned that through their work and their service.
[37:19] There are many people in the army who could do much more if they were given freedom and their leadership was supported.
[37:27] And they would not flee the battlefield.
[37:29] All these claims that Syrskyi is able to hold the front because he is some kind of authoritarian dictator are false.
[37:36] Ukrainians stopped the Russians because they made a decision, came out, and stopped them.
[37:41] Ukrainians know how to take responsibility.
[37:43] Ukrainians do not need a person above them with a club, pushing them
[37:50] onto the first line for ten or fifteen days under drones.
[37:54] Ukrainians make their own decisions, go forward, accept the risks, understand the situation themselves, sit in a trench, and know that they are doing it for their families – not because they are afraid of going absent without leave or something else, but because they accept responsibility.
[38:07] Those men are holding up the current geopolitical situation in the world.
[38:11] They need respect, proper contracts, defined terms of service, and the ability to transfer.
[38:18] They need competent leaders who listen to them.
[38:20] They need proper social support and many other things that we must introduce through systemic solutions.
[38:31] Thank you.
[38:31] Yes.
[38:31] Ukrinform, please.
[38:39] Iryna Kozhukhar, Ukrinform.
[38:39] You have developed fairly close relationships with international partners.
[38:43] Have your counterparts called you?
[38:47] Even if you cannot give names, could you at least say how many countries asked why you were being dismissed or why your resignation was under consideration?
[38:55] And a second question.
[38:59] Is it true that you proposed two people for the position of Commander-in-Chief and the president did not support either of them?
[39:06] Whom did I propose?
[39:06] In fact, I told the president that he had to make that choice himself.
[39:11] He should conduct dozens of meetings and determine who is genuinely capable of performing these tasks.
[39:18] Because it has to be his decision, not mine.
[39:20] We have an analytics system, data on how the front is moving, and information on who is responsible for the front.
[39:25] All of that has been digitised in the system.
[39:28] How many square kilometres did each person lose?
[39:30] Conclusions can be drawn, discussions held, and both a Commander-in-Chief and a Chief of the General Staff selected.
[39:34] It is not as though our country has no commanders who have demonstrated through their leadership that they value people, do not weave intrigues, and fight in order to achieve results.
[39:43] So that was not quite how it happened.
[39:47] Next, the second question – concerning foreign partners.
[39:50] Of course, many of them are calling.
[39:52] It is not as though I am a government in exit – or, as they say, in exile.
[39:55] I have not spoken with anyone.
[40:00] I am reading the messages.
[40:01] What can I comment on?
[40:04] This is our internal matter – what is happening here.
[40:05] We are talking among ourselves and speaking with Ukrainians.
[40:10] I read Boris’s message – I simply opened it because Germany is the country helping us the most.
[40:17] I value him greatly.
[40:17] He is an incredible defence minister – a kind of new European Churchill, you know – whose leadership turned the situation around in Germany so that it would help Ukraine and made the war a top issue.
[40:31] Many ministers called, and even major technology figures called and already offered me work, but I said, “Stop,
[40:42] I appreciate it very much.”
[40:42] Alex Karp called and said, “Come on, we and the owner of Palantir should do this now, but it will happen.
[40:57] Let us discuss it later.”
[41:01] I think this is our internal matter.
[41:03] There should be no international pressure or anything of that kind.
[41:06] This is our internal matter, which we have to resolve inside the country: reach a new agreement, establish a new social contract, and stop the Russians in the sky and on the ground.
[41:15] We have shown that we can do it.
[41:17] And then force them into peace on our terms.
[41:20] There is no other scenario.
[41:26] Thank you. TSN.
[41:31] Yuliia, TSN.
[41:31] Mr Mykhailo, we can now see that MPs have already brought forward a vote on a new minister, while people have taken to the streets in support of you.
[41:38] Perhaps the scenario is changing and you will remain.
[41:40] If so, would you stay?
[41:42] And if you do remain,
[41:42] how do you see your future work and interaction with the Commander-in-Chief, who, unfortunately, remains in office?
[41:51] Let us say that the wise Ukrainian people have not yet decided whether he remains or not.
[41:56] Let us wait.
[42:00] That is the first point.
[42:00] Second, the Minister of Defence is the president’s appointment.
[42:03] Today we see that the Ukrainian people have come out.
[42:08] But the Ukrainian people did not come out for one specific minister, Fedorov.
[42:13] The Ukrainian people came out for themselves.
[42:13] Why were hopes created and why was the initiative seized on the battlefield and in the sky?
[42:24] Why is that trajectory now being broken, and why are we turning away from it?
[42:28] There is such a risk.
[42:28] And that is what the Ukrainian people came out for.
[42:33] The Ukrainian people sense when something is happening that is not based on the values cultivated here.
[42:40] So that is the reaction. Whether I continue or do not continue –
[42:43] this is not about me at all right now.
[42:45] The president and I certainly need to discuss this issue once again.
[42:49] We also spoke by telephone today.
[42:52] But the key issue and the task today are not about me.
[42:58] The central issue today is the root of the problem that we have to resolve.
[43:02] If we resolve that root problem, there are enough people in the country capable of holding one position or another.
[43:11] So, in principle, would you agree to remain on the condition that Syrskyi is not there?
[43:19] I never set such a condition, but I cannot imagine it. I do not need the position of Minister of Defence simply in order to be the Minister of Defence.
[43:27] I need the position in order to win the war.
[43:32] In the present configuration, I personally do not know how to win the war.
[43:36] Thank you.
[43:36] Let us take the next question from Hromadske.
[43:43] Hello.
[43:43] I would like to return to the mobilisation issue.
[43:45] How effective was the first stage of the mobilisation reform, and what will happen to it now?
[43:50] And is it true that the reform also faced resistance at the General Staff level?
[43:55] Servicemembers told us that there has still been no communication to personnel.
[44:02] Yes.
[44:02] Look, I do not want our press conference to turn into me complaining about the General Staff.
[44:05] We are discussing broader architectural matters.
[44:08] You are informed about whether someone helped, did not help, and so on.
[44:12] There are units with a strong backbone, as you understand, and they actively sign contracts and promote them internally.
[44:23] KOD 9.2, for example – forgive me for mentioning KOD 9.2 again – but I know that Flint is there. He is the person who operated in the south and whose unit participated in the liberation of Kupiansk.
[44:36] He was transferred to Zaporizhzhia.
[44:36] He began striking bridges and using drones to isolate Crimea.
[44:41] He began destroying equipment.
[44:43] He is an extraordinary professional – simply the kind of person for whom I am standing here today.
[44:48] For Flint.
[44:48] And he was transferred to the Kharkiv region or somewhere else on the grounds that a problem needed to be solved there – and, of course, there was a certain problem.
[44:58] He was transferred to solve the problem, but that was not the real reason for the transfer.
[45:02] He was transferred in order to remove him from Zaporizhzhia, where he was successful and where he was associated with me.
[45:10] And that is a major problem.
[45:17] For example, if we are talking about Flint, I think he has 3,000 or 4,000 people, and 1,000 signed contracts.
[45:20] So in reality it depends on the unit.
[45:25] But how does the communication take place?
[45:26] It is impossible to carry out a contract reform if I am doing it solely from the Ministry of Defence.
[45:30] The General Staff has to participate in this contract reform.
[45:32] But I will give you a spoiler.
[45:35] I hope the Chief of the General Staff will not be offended.
[45:39] This is not his personal information, but Hnatov signed our contract.
[45:46] Yes.
[45:46] Thank you.
[45:46] Let us go to Khrystyna Berdynskykh.
[45:49] A great deal has already been said about your interaction with the Commander-in-Chief, but we have not yet addressed corruption.
[45:56] Please tell us which corrupt actors or corrupt companies you believe may also have been involved in your dismissal.
[46:04] And what did you do in office to cut off corrupt financial flows?
[46:11] From our first day, we launched a new data-based procurement system.
[46:15] Previously, the General Staff wrote a list of companies from which products had to be purchased.
[46:19] We changed the system.
[46:21] We introduced a new order stating that suppliers had to be selected from the top ten companies in the rankings, based on ePoints, the data chain, and orders on Brave1 Market.
[46:34] The top ten are selected in each category, and 80% of drones are procured from those leaders in order to improve drone quality at the front, because so much junk is currently supplied that we had to work on quality.
[46:47] The remaining 20% is procured through tenders.
[46:52] That was the first step, and it changed the quality of procurement.
[46:55] As the second step, we launched open tenders.
[46:59] In the first one, we purchased long-range 155 mm ammunition.
[47:01] And imagine how much we saved. I think there were five winning companies.
[47:09] There was one well-known company that was recently searched.
[47:11] It made a public statement claiming that we were destroying the artillery sector.
[47:15] All those claims about artillery were false. We simply stopped buying short-range ammunition and began buying long-range ammunition.
[47:19] They thought they could perhaps reach an agreement, or that something would change, or that the tender would fail. But then they realised the tender was going ahead normally.
[47:28] They joined as the sixth company and reduced the price of every shell by USD 1,000.
[47:35] On every shell. That is an example of how tenders work.
[47:37] Then we launched a tender for the mid-range system we call Crimea Strike.
[47:41] It covered 150,000–160,000 drones.
[47:46] Fifty-nine companies applied for the Crimea Strike tender.
[47:50] Imagine that – this is our competitive advantage.
[47:52] The cost reduction will be 20%–30%.
[47:56] We saved more than USD 100 million in the artillery tender.
[47:58] If we are talking about a drone budget of, say, 20 [unclear] plus another USD 20 billion, then saving 20% of that money is a very large sum that can be invested elsewhere.
[48:11] Naturally, we stopped a large number of contracts that had been signed directly with foreign and Ukrainian companies – contracts that I did not even know about when I arrived.
[48:22] Do you know how I learned about them? I would travel to a country and say, “Dear minister, we are no longer purchasing short-range 155 mm ammunition. Do not allocate USD 200 million for Leopard repairs.
[48:30] Do not do this, do not do that.”
[48:34] Then I would return to Ukraine and my telephone would explode.
[48:36] “You have broken our contract.”
[48:39] “We signed a framework contract a long time ago.”
[48:40] This company and that company would say, “Please tell them to pay under the contract, and we will fulfil it.”
[48:47] They had not yet fulfilled it, but they wanted payment.
[48:49] And they said the state was treating them very badly – that although we had not known about it, we were breaking the company’s business strategy.
[49:01] But on the other hand, if we currently have a surplus of short-range 155 mm ammunition at the front, how could I morally say that this company or that company should still be allowed to sell more short-range 155 mm ammunition to the state? A decision had to be made to buy only long-range ammunition.
[49:16] The contracts were halted, and partners redirected the money to long-range contracts that should have been signed a year earlier so that we would not have the current problem.
[49:29] But unless we make those decisions now, we will have other problems a year from now, so the price will fall.
[49:35] We tried as hard as possible to launch a large number of tenders, including for deep-strike systems and FPV drones.
[49:41] Tenders for deep-strike systems and FPV drones were supposed to be launched soon, and I hope they will be launched one way or another, because they offer major savings and give companies an opportunity to participate in a free market without fear.
[49:55] In reality, there is a great deal of corruption.
[49:58] Look, there were department heads who had effectively been appointed by private companies.
[50:04] Department heads would come to meetings accompanied by employees of certain law-enforcement agencies.
[50:10] They would not attend Ministry of Defence meetings without employees of those law-enforcement agencies.
[50:14] When I learned about this, I asked: why does a department head invite a law-enforcement officer to a meeting about shells or, for example, the relocation of an enterprise?
[50:25] I was surprised.
[50:25] We began dismissing those people.
[50:30] There was one case in which a meeting took place while I was absent. It was chaired by the first deputy minister, and a direct contract was being discussed.
[50:40] This was during the first days or weeks, and a letter had been written naming a specific company.
[50:46] There was also a letter from the Bureau of Economic Security.
[50:48] It was well known in our circle that this company had a profit margin of 200%–300% and belonged to a certain well-known person who does not live in Ukraine.
[50:58] So.
[50:58] After a discussion with the General Staff, the company was removed from the list – they acted properly and removed it.
[51:10] There is no issue with that, but everyone in the market already knew who had said what at the meeting.
[51:15] We conducted an internal investigation. I called Hnatov, and he said, “No problem. This is nonsense – it cannot happen. Let us fix it.”
[51:22] We identified who had done it, conducted polygraph examinations, and found the people involved.
[51:25] I did not manage to sign the orders reducing their rank and suspending them.
[51:30] I physically did not have time because the investigation was still under way.
[51:32] But I think those people understood everything.
[51:38] There are many such stories in which the architecture began to change. Those changes will save the country’s budget so that we can continue fighting and use the money for what we actually need.
[51:53] Thank you.
[51:53] Ukrainska Pravda.
[51:53] Olha, good afternoon.
[51:58] Thank you for being here and for having served.
[52:01] I have two questions.
[52:01] First, since we are speaking frankly, which commanders of operational commands, corps, and brigades do you believe should be removed immediately for ineffectiveness and for obstructing important work?
[52:15] And the second question, also since we are speaking frankly: why, in your opinion, did the president, when choosing between you on one side and Syrskyi and Hnatov on the other, ultimately decide in favour of Syrskyi and Hnatov?
[52:33] Concerning the various commanders, once again, our task is to speak as adults without undermining the country’s defence. It should not appear that I have come out here and begun dismissing named individuals or placing some kind of stigma on them.
[52:48] A Commander-in-Chief and a Chief of the General Staff need to come in, conduct their own audit, and make decisions jointly with the Ministry of Defence on the basis of data and additional information held only by the General Staff. For example, we often see certain loss statistics but do not see that other brigades or battalions are attached to those regiments or brigades.
[53:12] So this work has to be carried out.
[53:12] I am not currently prepared to discuss every area, and it would be improper for me to do so.
[53:19] Second, why did the president choose Syrskyi’s side?
[53:23] First, I have known the president for seven years.
[53:25] I believe he has not yet chosen Syrskyi’s side.
[53:28] I spoke with the president today and told him, “You know, I am acting according to my conscience.”
[53:33] I have travelled this path with him.
[53:35] In seven years, he never let me down as a member of the team, just as I never let him down.
[53:44] We are now in a situation in which both he and I are acting according to our own view of the world.
[53:50] And it is normal that I have come out and spoken this way – nothing like this has happened between us before. Perhaps he has made a decision. Yesterday, he spoke normally about me at the faction meeting.
[54:01] And today, as you can see, I am speaking about him with respect.
[54:03] But when 90% of the people who come to him are people who encountered problems as a result of our work at the Ministry of Defence, it is probably difficult for him, as a person and a manager, to analyse all of it and make the right decisions.
[54:22] But, you know, I do not remember who said that we always make the right decision after we have made every wrong one.
[54:29] Therefore, I am confident that the president hears the Ukrainian people, knows what to do, and that the situation will be corrected 100%.
[54:41] Thank you.
[54:41] I also know that some members of parliament have questions.
[54:44] I can give you the microphone as well, if anyone has a question.
[54:53] There are no questions.
[54:53] We will support Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
[54:56] Thank you.
[55:02] Yes, Verbianyi from Bloomberg, please.
[55:12] Thank you very much for the opportunity to ask a question.
[55:14] I essentially have two questions.
[55:16] When you spoke with President Zelenskyy, how exactly did he formulate his dissatisfaction with your work?
[55:22] What specifically was he dissatisfied with?
[55:24] Or was it you who said that you could not work under the current conditions, given that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces was remaining in office?
[55:34] And one more question, if I may.
[55:36] We know that Western partners are unhappy that young Ukrainians can leave the country and cannot be recruited into the Armed Forces.
[55:45] There were reports that you were one of the few government officials who opposed that initiative.
[55:55] Could you now confirm or deny that?
[55:56] Thank you.
[56:00] Concerning my conversation with the president, I cannot disclose every detail, but there was no choice framed as Syrskyi or no Syrskyi, and so on.
[56:11] I think the decision had been made earlier, but there were no specific arguments explaining what was wrong.
[56:18] We had a normal conversation, but no specific arguments were given about what was wrong.
[56:23] There was simply dissatisfaction.
[56:23] Dissatisfaction with what has already been reported in the media – dissatisfaction because the military leadership says that I somehow obstruct them, do not help them, or something of that kind. I do not know.
[56:34] They never once said anything to my face.
[56:38] My management model and practice have always been to say everything directly to a person’s face.
[56:42] I never received such feedback directly, although I provided a great deal of feedback myself.
[56:46] And when I made a mistake, there were cases when I called and said, “Look, I signed the wrong document. It looks bad. I apologise,” and withdrew the document.
[56:54] But I never wove intrigues, commissioned anything, arranged articles somewhere, used Telegram channels, and so on.
[57:03] So I think this pressure was generally a factor, and perhaps there were other reasons, but I cannot tell you anything new here.
[57:12] As for which decisions I supported or opposed: look, a decision was made, and I was a member of the team, which means I supported it.
[57:23] Yes, thank you.
[57:23] There was a question here.
[57:26] Thank you. Mykola Kniazhytskyi, European Solidarity.
[57:27] Mr Mykhailo, we voted for you.
[57:30] I want to thank you for the meetings you held with MPs from every faction, regardless of whether they were in the majority or the opposition.
[57:37] Everything you said was clear, and we supported it.
[57:39] There is now a certain crisis in parliament.
[57:42] Our colleague Poturaiev submitted a statement resigning his mandate.
[57:46] Others do not know how to vote.
[57:47] You were not a politician so much as a manager, but now you are in politics.
[57:53] People across the entire country have taken to the streets in support of you.
[57:55] What do you expect?
[57:55] What political steps do you now expect from parliament?
[58:01] From your perspective, what should we do, including to support what you began?
[58:06] Thank you.
[58:09] Thank you for your question.
[58:09] Today, we can see many parliamentarians here – I do not know whether it is many or few, perhaps several dozen, ten, twenty, I cannot give you an exact number.
[58:22] A number of MPs from different parties and factions came today at least to listen to what we are discussing and to hear my report, which was not presented in parliament. That was probably also not entirely proper, given the work that was done.
[58:37] I believe everyone should act as I have – according to their conscience – without fearing that they will later have problems with law enforcement, face pressure, not be invited somewhere for a hookah, or experience something else.
[58:54] Everyone should simply act according to their conscience.
[58:57] In fact, I build teams based on values.
[59:03] If you look at our entire team, its members are similar in this respect.
[59:05] I always say that they resemble one another.
[59:08] They have energy, they are active, they propose ideas, and they have a mission and objectives.
[59:13] I do not need to tell them what to do.
[59:16] They do it independently.
[59:18] There are values and a belief in what they are doing.
[59:21] People unite around values, and people simply need to begin working in accordance with their inner voice.
[59:28] Because what is happening to me today feels as though I have killed my former self and been born again.
[59:33] For seven years, I served the Ukrainian people as part of the president’s team and did many different things. Sometimes I did not even say what I thought, but I carried out the work because I understood that I was part of a team.
[59:50] Today, the issue is not me or the president.
[59:52] We are managers chosen by [the people], and he chose us.
[59:55] But having seen everything from inside for four years and launched so many different reforms, I feel and understand that this is how we have to act.
[01:00:08] At least let us talk about it.
[01:00:08] I may be 100% wrong.
[01:00:09] But anyone with a different vision should propose it.
[01:00:16] Anyone with different ideas should propose them.
[01:00:16] But I am acting according to my conscience, and I will not be ashamed.
[01:00:21] So my message to MPs is this: are you comfortable, in good conscience, with the absence of a large number of independent institutions?
[01:00:33] Do you want to make them independent? Then say so, come forward, and do it.
[01:00:38] Are you dissatisfied that there is no genuine civilian control over the army?
[01:00:43] Offer something constructive instead of using the recruitment centres as a political platform.
[01:00:45] Where are your balls?
[01:00:45] Why not state what the real problem is?
[01:00:50] Speak about the units, the assaults, the absence of transfers, the distribution of money, and sometimes say who is effective and who is ineffective.
[01:00:57] Say everything directly and according to your conscience.
[01:01:00] People are dying for freedom, while we sit here on Bankova Street and Hrushevskoho Street and cannot say what we truly believe.
[01:01:11] Or we do not believe it, and that is okay.
[01:01:14] Or we believe it and say it.
[01:01:14] I have crossed that line for myself.
[01:01:17] This does not mean that I will now go around giving open lectures in public squares or universities and telling people what to do.
[01:01:27] It means that I have expressed my position, and I am confident that changes will now begin and will lead to what the Ukrainian people deserve.
[01:01:40] Thank you.
[01:01:40] Good afternoon, Mr Mykhailo.
[01:01:42] Oleksandr Fedienko, with respect.
[01:01:44] This is a question for you as a manager. There is no new minister yet, and the situation concerning your dismissal is also unclear, but my question concerns absence without leave and evasion.
[01:01:54] I am interested in the analytics: did the Ministry of Defence provide the General Staff with analysis? Look, we mobilise many people, correct?
[01:02:10] Then the mathematics begins.
[01:02:10] A certain number go absent without leave, and a certain number hide.
[01:02:16] There is now an unpopular idea: let us remove the exemptions from half of those currently exempted.
[01:02:21] Our economy might then collapse, yet no one can guarantee that those whose exemptions are removed will not go absent without leave or simply hide.
[01:02:27] I am interested in your opinion and position on this issue. As a member of the defence committee, I am also asking whether you communicated this position to the General Staff.
[01:02:39] Is that clear?
[01:02:39] Yes. We built a combat-effectiveness assessment system.
[01:02:44] It even took them four months to come up with a name for it.
[01:02:45] We also debated for a long time what to call the system, but we introduced it.
[01:02:49] We have a dashboard.
[01:02:49] For every brigade and every corps, we can see how much territory was retaken, how much was lost, how many personnel were lost, and how many were wounded.
[01:02:56] A special coefficient is calculated using a complex formula.
[01:02:58] We showed it to you at the committee.
[01:03:00] We understand the level of absence without leave; we understand everything.
[01:03:02] But this product needs a client.
[01:03:04] This product must have a client.
[01:03:06] Who consumes this information?
[01:03:08] Who makes the decisions?
[01:03:08] Who decides to create ten new brigades, or instead analyses why 45% of personnel in some brigades went absent without leave or 60% submitted transfer requests?
[01:03:21] Who examines what is happening with the commander and why the situation arose, identifies the corps commander, and determines whether that commander appointed the brigade commander?
[01:03:28] What was the provision? What attached units were involved? Who issued the orders? What was the concept, what was the effect, and so on?
[01:03:37] So the question concerns the actual customer for all this analysis.
[01:03:40] But we digitised almost everything that could be digitised in the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces.
[01:03:47] That is true.
[01:03:47] Yes.
[01:03:47] Then I will clarify the question.
[01:03:49] I need your professional answer and opinion.
[01:03:51] Will unpopular actions such as those I have just described lead to the complete shutdown of our country’s economy, total degradation, and possibly irreversible consequences if this policy continues?
[01:04:03] Look, we return to the same question: what is our strategy, what is our vision, what is our plan for exiting the war, what are we doing, and how many financial resources and how much human capital do we need?
[01:04:20] What actions should be taken?
[01:04:23] How do we understand whether what we are doing is effective or ineffective?
[01:04:25] Everything starts with the objective.
[01:04:28] Everything else is decomposition.
[01:04:32] What is the objective?
[01:04:32] Then it has to be broken down, so we can understand whether we need more people or perhaps another solution.
[01:04:38] Perhaps we need to spend more money on drones rather than personnel and pay the people already serving more.
[01:04:42] Perhaps we need to increase mobilisation, perhaps reduce it, or perhaps do something else.
[01:04:47] So the question is: what is the objective?
[01:04:50] What is the state’s overall strategy in the war?
[01:04:52] How do we stop the enemy?
[01:04:55] What does it mean for us to have won the war?
[01:04:57] What does it mean for us to have ended the war?
[01:04:57] The issue is much deeper.
[01:04:59] And it is the Commander-in-Chief’s task to propose a vision for how to stop the war and secure a just peace.
[01:05:21] Thank you. MP Yatsyk.
[01:05:21] Yuliia. Mykhailo, first of all, I would like to use this opportunity to thank you for helping the 110th Brigade. Back in 2022, the first so-called Baba Yaga drones were tested with that brigade in the Zaporizhzhia sector, and the orcs remembered them for a long time.
[01:05:42] Second, I want to say that this is already the third temporary investigative commission in which I have participated. It has received a very large number of military complaints – more than 3,500 submissions specifically from servicemembers – concerning corruption within brigades or perhaps personal conflicts.
[01:06:07] Reports concerning discharge, military medical commissions, and leave are not considered, and money is demanded for transfers.
[01:06:15] Transfers were a separate story entirely: the issue was resolved exclusively for money and was blocked at the General Staff level.
[01:06:25] There were countless problems about which we informed the previous two ministers, including internal investigations in which disfavoured brigade commanders were simply destroyed by investigations over, for example, a traffic accident involving an ordinary soldier.
[01:06:37] Conversely, favoured commanders responsible for equipment losses or negligence received only warnings or reminders about military service.
[01:06:46] There were many abuses in recruitment centres involving the Oberih registry, Army+, and other systems.
[01:06:54] I want to ask what your ministry did specifically with the Army+ system, transfers through that network, and Oberih, where there were many abuses and where people who had no right to deferment were entered as eligible for deferment or reservation despite having no legal grounds.
[01:07:16] What technological solutions did you propose, and how were they implemented?
[01:07:22] If they were implemented, how? If not, what was proposed for the future?
[01:07:27] What was the most important thing we did?
[01:07:27] We began the work at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, then came to the Ministry of Defence and completed it there.
[01:07:31] For the first time, we created a register of servicemembers.
[01:07:35] Ukraine now has a register of servicemembers.
[01:07:39] It is already 95% complete.
[01:07:39] The register is built on SAP technology and the Impulse system, which essentially gathers information from the field.
[01:07:47] This servicemember register will make it possible to understand everything happening with a person.
[01:07:57] From the moment a summons is served, it will show where the person is, where they have been, where and how long they trained, how many combat missions they carried out, and how many additional payments they received.
[01:08:08] You will understand the person’s entire service life cycle and be able to analyse that information.
[01:08:14] We probably did not have time to announce this, but within the next few days an electronic military document was supposed to be launched for every servicemember using this register – like the electronic passport in Diia, but containing each servicemember’s registry information.
[01:08:31] It would then show what equipment the person possesses, which weapons are assigned, and what other capabilities they have.
[01:08:39] If possible, let us take one more question and then finish.
[01:08:43] Yes, let us take a few more questions from members of parliament and then return to the media.
[01:08:46] All right.
[01:08:47] But let us keep to time, yes?
[01:08:50] Serhii Shtepa, Member of Parliament.
[01:08:50] Mykhailo Albertovych, first of all, I want to express my support for you.
[01:08:53] I am certain this is not only my position, but also that of many MPs, both those present here and those currently in the Verkhovna Rada chamber.
[01:09:00] My question is as follows.
[01:09:02] If we analyse the recent information reports and even Telegram channels, the greatest criticism directed at you concerned mobilisation.
[01:09:14] Could you explain in more detail what was planned as part of that reform, the timeframes, and exactly what you intended to do to stop the openly disgraceful phenomenon that unfortunately still persists – so-called “busification”, the forced seizure of people into vans?
[01:09:24] That is my first question.
[01:09:26] The second issue is also extremely important and concerns not only servicemembers but the society that supports them.
[01:09:32] When will there be an actual increase – not indexation, but a genuinely substantial increase – in the pay and financing of servicemembers who are not at the front line and therefore receive the minimum level of support?
[01:09:44] Do you see an opportunity to increase that provision in the near future?
[01:09:48] Thank you.
[01:10:12] I am not running for the position of Minister of Defence.
[01:10:15] So I will not speak about future plans or what did not succeed within those plans.
[01:10:20] We have discussed the architecturally important issues.
[01:10:21] If they are fixed, everything else will follow as an effect.
[01:10:25] Everything will be fine.
[01:10:25] So I think the root of the issue lies there.
[01:10:31] But you asked the right question about Telegram channels.
[01:10:34] Attention.
[01:10:34] I have a question: who bought Trukha?
[01:10:36] Why, from the moment Trukha was purchased for one billion hryvnias, did it begin working exclusively against me?
[01:10:47] Why did Trukha begin writing about the recruitment centres?
[01:10:47] Why did it deliberately attach my name to every recruitment-centre case?
[01:10:55] Why did it begin announcing supposed investigations that many law-enforcement officers circulated among themselves?
[01:11:02] I saw these cases concerning members of my team as well, and we will discuss that separately.
[01:11:07] I will never remain silent if, God forbid, anything happens to a member of my team.
[01:11:14] Who bought Trukha?
[01:11:14] Who writes Hetmantsev’s talking points?
[01:11:20] Who is fighting for the gambling business?
[01:11:26] Hetmantsev spent a year targeting me; someone invested in that campaign for a year.
[01:11:31] There is an excise-related system that the Ministry of Digital Transformation built without funding – not the Ministry of Finance – and without any state-budget money last year.
[01:11:40] There is the PlayCity institution for the gambling sector, which stopped taking bribes and introduced electronic licences for everything.
[01:11:47] Who is doing all this?
[01:11:51] I have questions.
[01:11:51] I closed my eyes to all these media attacks – let them continue. I understand how everything functions inside our society.
[01:12:01] We saw many attacks on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau last year.
[01:12:07] So this is another matter that requires an answer within a new social contract.
[01:12:13] Should one person or a group of people be able to buy the largest media outlet?
[01:12:22] Telegram is now the most popular network for receiving news.
[01:12:26] Should someone be able to buy the largest channel on the most popular medium and begin attacking the Minister of Defence during a full-scale war?
[01:12:36] It does not matter whether the minister is Umerov, Shmyhal, Fedorov, Klymenko, or someone else.
[01:12:42] Should that be possible during a full-scale war?
[01:12:48] In reality, this is one of the questions that are not discussed publicly but to which we must seek answers.
[01:12:54] Who is behind it?
[01:12:58] Did you contact the Security Service of Ukraine?
[01:13:01] We contacted everyone.
[01:13:04] I am appealing here to you, the journalists.
[01:13:06] If the law-enforcement agencies could not respond, please find out who is behind it.
[01:13:13] Mykhailo [unclear].
[01:13:13] Anton Shvachko, Sumy region.
[01:13:16] You know that our frontline cities unfortunately suffer constant strikes from guided aerial bombs and long-range artillery.
[01:13:20] I know that you visited us last week.
[01:13:25] I know that you had already initiated certain actions.
[01:13:27] I would like to hear your personal view: what concrete cases did you manage to address, what did you not have time to complete, and what processes were activated to resolve the problems of frontline cities?
[01:13:37] Many cities are now simply being erased from the face of the earth by enemy aviation.
[01:13:43] Unfortunately.
[01:13:43] Thank you.
[01:13:46] Thank you.
[01:13:46] Yes, I saw many appeals from you and from MPs, and many people wrote on social media that the Sumy region had been abandoned and that I should come there.
[01:13:56] Flash spoke to me about it.
[01:13:59] We went to the Sumy region.
[01:13:59] And, in principle, we saw a typical situation.
[01:14:01] No one is responsible for air-defence protection in the region.
[01:14:04] There is the North group of forces, the Sumy tactical group, the Sumy air-defence tactical group, and the Kursk grouping or tactical group, but no single person is responsible for protecting the city and the entire region – someone who can be told, “You are responsible, and everything is under your operational control.”
[01:14:29] It was extremely painful when we arrived together at the building struck by a guided aerial bomb and met a father who had buried his wife and daughter the day before.
[01:14:41] He said, “I was going into position. I received a message and was speaking with my family. I saw through the Virazh alert system that a guided bomb was flying toward you. The first one missed, and then the next one hit this building.” And he said one thing.
[01:14:53] It was the first time in my life I had ever been in such a situation.
[01:14:55] Honestly, I did not know what to say.
[01:14:57] I simply looked at him. I did not know. I said, “I am sorry. I am simply sorry.”
[01:15:00] I do not know what can be said in such cases, but while in that state he said, “I saw that you signed agreements concerning Mirage aircraft and Gripens.
[01:15:12] Gripens will shoot down the aircraft carrying guided bombs.
[01:15:18] Push this through. Destroy those who killed my family.”
[01:15:21] So our task is to change the organisation so that we can finish the job against those who killed his family.
[01:15:35] No journalist is picking up his microphone.
[01:15:37] Hello, after all.
[01:15:48] Yes, I do have a question. The previous questions inspired one about the situation in parliament.
[01:15:52] My name is Dmytro Kostiuk.
[01:15:54] A year ago – almost exactly a year ago – I left the Servant of the People faction after the attempt to eliminate the independence of NABU and SAPO.
[01:16:00] But during this time, I have naturally continued speaking with Servant of the People MPs and observing the internal situation. Several months ago, I realised that Mykhailo Fedorov was going to be pushed out, and that leading figures in the Servant of the People faction would be the ones doing it.
[01:16:12] Since we are speaking openly here, do you sense their attitude toward you, and what is your relationship with the head of the Servant of the People faction?
[01:16:25] We had a good conversation with the head of the Servant of the People party.
[01:16:26] He said, “My position toward you is neutral.”
[01:16:33] Thank you, dear friends.
[01:16:33] Unfortunately, we will finish soon.
[01:16:34] We have time for one question.
[01:16:37] Let us give it to a media representative. RBC, I apologise that you waited so long.
[01:16:43] What is known about changes at the Ministry of Digital Transformation?
[01:16:43] Were you offered a return there?
[01:16:45] And who could be appointed if they plan to replace Borniakov?
[01:16:52] No one spoke to me about the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
[01:16:56] First, Boiev, who had been my deputy, moved to Ukroboronprom.
[01:17:00] Then another of my deputies applied for the Ministry of Digital Transformation position.
[01:17:06] No one discussed it with me.
[01:17:06] I know they spoke with her after the faction meeting.
[01:17:09] I may be mistaken, and perhaps after the meeting with the president.
[01:17:12] But it is important to preserve the Ministry of Digital Transformation, because it contains Brave1, which is responsible for military technologies, since the Ministry of Defence was not working on technology at the time.
[01:17:25] It is very important to watch what happens next with the ministry, Brave1, and the grants, so that we do not lose the technological advantages we possess and everything remains in order at the ministry.
[01:17:37] Because the Ministry of Digital Transformation is something we can be proud of globally.
[01:17:42] Ukraine is a leading country in digitalisation.
[01:17:44] Every country is watching it.
[01:17:46] We are rising in every ranking and launching artificial intelligence – although, all right, I will not discuss that now – but this must be monitored.
[01:17:56] Yes, let us take one question from an MP and then finish.
[01:17:58] Volodymyr Ariev, please.
[01:18:02] Please give him the microphone over there.
[01:18:02] Thank you.
[01:18:06] Let us take this question and then give someone else a chance to speak, so that we are done.
[01:18:09] Volodymyr Ariev, European Solidarity.
[01:18:11] First, I would like to thank Mr Mykhailo for his effective work and cooperation with our faction in the Verkhovna Rada.
[01:18:18] I probably already look like a “Porokhobot”, to be honest.
[01:18:22] Very dangerous.
[01:18:24] It is all right.
[01:18:24] We understand that we are on the same political field, because our faction is probably the only one subjected to the maximum attention and fire from anonymous Telegram channels.
[01:18:38] And you have experienced what that is like personally.
[01:18:40] This raises the issue of the anonymity of Telegram channels.
[01:18:48] Evidently, we will need to combine our efforts so that they either cease to be anonymous or are restricted in carrying out information and psychological operations.
[01:19:03] But the question I wanted to ask concerns future technologies – the use of artificial intelligence in drone control and the innovations that already exist today.
[01:19:24] I also genuinely wanted to ask whether the Brave1 Marketplace will continue operating as effectively as it has until now.
[01:19:34] Thank you.
[01:19:36] We will see together.
[01:19:36] I am confident that it will continue operating.
[01:19:38] I cannot imagine a person capable of reversing how Brave1 Market operates or how the technologies are developing.
[01:19:44] As for such a person – this morning, we all saw what can happen to someone who tries to stop the innovations that have been created.
[01:19:53] So I have more confidence in Brave1’s future than in my own [source unclear].
[01:20:03] Yes, let us take one or two more.
[01:20:05] Inna Sovsun, Holos faction.
[01:20:08] Mykhailo, on the one hand, thank you very much for what you accomplished, for what succeeded, and for what you initiated.
[01:20:12] On the other hand, I had objections to some of your initiatives.
[01:20:16] Primarily those concerning mobilisation.
[01:20:18] I consider it unfair to propose that all servicemembers who have already been serving for four years sign contracts for another two years.
[01:20:26] I think most servicemembers feel the same way, and I think you saw the reaction.
[01:20:30] I do not now want to go into the details of what has already happened.
[01:20:35] My question is broader.
[01:20:37] When the president speaks about mobilisation reform, what does he mean?
[01:20:42] Does he understand that, in order to provide defined service terms for some people, others have to be mobilised?
[01:20:46] Why am I asking this?
[01:20:49] Because servicemembers have been told for three years that something is about to be done regarding service terms, yet nothing happens.
[01:20:54] And my main question is that the problem evidently lies somewhere at the top.
[01:20:59] Somewhere at the top.
[01:21:01] There is no understanding that defined service terms cannot be provided without new mobilisation.
[01:21:05] When were you given the mobilisation task?
[01:21:07] When the new Minister of Defence is given a mobilisation task, what will it be?
[01:21:11] How exactly does the president understand this?
[01:21:16] The president himself needs to answer that question.
[01:21:17] I would like to speak about a mistake we made when launching the first stage of the military’s transformation.
[01:21:24] We made a mistake that must not be made when launching major transformations affecting a large number of people.
[01:21:31] I thought we were already experienced members of government who had launched many reforms, and so on, but we made a major error.
[01:21:41] When we designed the first stage of the military transformation and proposed the contracts, we did not speak directly with the Ukrainian people through their MPs, expert groups, and servicemembers.
[01:21:53] And I understand one thing: whichever minister carries out the next stage and makes proposals on mobilisation,
[01:22:02] the first thing that has to be done is to speak openly with society, publish the vision, gather different groups, speak with all MPs in the regions, separately convene all heads of recruitment centres, and speak with the police and everyone else in order to establish a new social contract concerning reform of the recruitment centres.
[01:22:20] Because, once again, I want to repeat that the issue is not the recruitment centres themselves. The issue is where we are going, how we are going there, and what we are going with.
[01:22:30] Then the answer will emerge.
[01:22:32] But the mistake we made must not be repeated.
[01:22:36] We must speak with the Ukrainian people about the issues that concern them most.
[01:22:42] Yes, thank you, Mykhailo.
[01:22:42] We are finishing.
[01:22:42] Yes, excuse me, I would like to thank everyone, and especially the people who came out today in different cities.
[01:22:53] We must understand that a full-scale war is under way, and you have to take care of your safety.
[01:22:59] We have to protect your safety as well. But I love the Ukrainian people because the Ukrainian people understand, feel, and know.
[01:23:09] So take care of yourselves.
[01:23:14] We need to understand that we must not destabilise the country.
[01:23:20] We need to ensure that the correct management decisions are made.
[01:23:26] Then we can gather again and continue working toward our victory.
[01:23:30] You are wise, so you know what to do.
[01:23:33] But be careful, because Russia will do everything it can to exploit any weakness inside our country for its own benefit.
[01:23:39] So please take care of yourselves.
[01:23:43] Thank you all very much for your attention.
[01:23:46] We will continue working toward our mission, so there is more to come.
[01:23:49] Thank you.
[01:23:54] Thank you very much.
[01:23:54] Dear media representatives, I also want to warn you: please do not publish photographs of the drones and do not photograph them.
[01:24:01] We happened to gather at this location today.
[01:24:05] Ukrainian manufacturers are making a strong request that photographs of the drones not be published.
[01:24:09] Please.
[01:24:13] This applies to every product presented here today.
[01:24:16] Everything that was on the stage may be posted and published, but only without the equipment.
[01:24:24] Please.