Italy's Defence Minister Offers Adviser Post to Ousted Ukrainian Counterpart

Fedorov on Telegram

Ousted Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has said he has offered Mykhailo Fedorov, who was recently removed as Ukraine's defence minister, a role as an adviser in Italy.

"I called him the day after his dismissal and said: When do you want to come to Rome and work with me as an adviser?" Crosetto told ⁠Italian daily la Repubblica in an interview published on Saturday.

Asked how Fedorov had responded, Crosetto said the former minister was "moved" and saw the offer as "a demonstration of esteem and friendship".

Crosetto praised Fedorov as a driver of military innovation, saying he was "one of those people who completely rewrote the rules of ‌the ⁠game on the battlefield". Fedorov had helped Ukraine first resist Russia's invasion and then regain the initiative by reshaping battlefield practices through new technologies, Crossetto said.

Fedorov, 35, is a technology-focused reformer widely credited by supporters with strengthening Ukraine's drone capabilities and driving reforms across the country's defence sector. He was dismissed as defence minister earlier this month, a decision that triggered rare wartime protests in Ukraine.

Following his dismissal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reportedly offered Fedorov several alternative positions within the government. However, Fedorov declined, saying he would not accept any role other than that of defence minister.

The dismissal of Ukraine's widely respected defence minister has triggered rare public protests in Kyiv and exposed an unprecedented rift within the country's military leadership over the conduct of the war against Russia.



PUKMEDIA