Fedorov: "Corruption is one of main reasons why it is harder for us to stop war"
Former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called corruption one of the main internal obstacles preventing the war from ending quickly.
He made the statement during a podcast with volunteer and blogger Serhii Sternenko, according to Censor.NET.
Call to overcome corruption
According to the former government official, systemic abuses affect the quality of government decisions, including personnel appointments, leaving effective and qualified people excluded from decision-making processes.
"Corruption is one of the main reasons why it is harder for us to stop the war. We must overcome it (corruption - ed.), and it will become easier for us to stop the war... This then affects personnel decisions, with effective people not being wanted in various positions, and I am not talking about the Ministry of Defence now, but about the situation in general. In fact, this problem, so to speak, also lies within the defence-industrial complex, Ukroboronprom, and procurement-related sectors. I am confident that there will be results — I have already said this repeatedly — that people will be punished, and the task of law enforcement agencies now is to do everything necessary and continue doing so. Because this is an ongoing process. Whatever system you create, people come along and try to hack it from the outside. Not even from within, but from the outside," Fedorov said.
Fedorov’s resignation
- On July 14, the Verkhovna Rada supported a resolution on the resignation of Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko. The entire Cabinet of Ministers automatically resigned with her.
- On July 15, Mykhailo Fedorov said that he was stepping down as head of the Defence Ministry.
- Rallies in support of Mykhailo Fedorov took place in Dnipro, Rivne, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk, Cherkasy and other cities. Protesters are demonstrating against his resignation.
- On July 16, the Verkhovna Rada voted to appoint the new Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Serhii Koretskyi was appointed Prime Minister.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he would nominate Yevhen Khmara for the post of Minister of Defence of Ukraine. Prior to this, he had instructed Khmara to act as head of the Ministry of Defence.
- Protests against Fedorov’s dismissal continued in Ukrainian cities. In addition to demanding that Fedorov be reinstated as Defence Minister, people called for the dismissal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
- On 21 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Oleksandr Syrskyi from his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He appointed General Mykhailo Drapatyi to the post instead.
