Fedorov becomes adviser to Italian Defence Minister Crosetto but will remain in Ukraine
Former Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has announced that he accepted an offer from Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto to become his adviser on defence innovation.
The former minister announced this on social media, according to Censor.NET.
"Together with the team, we have begun an international trip dedicated to developing our new digitalisation and defence tech projects. Our first meeting was with Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto. I thanked Guido for his personal support and his offer to become his adviser on defence innovation. I am grateful for the trust and strategic partnership," Fedorov said.
According to the former government official, in this role he will help Italy develop modern warfare technologies, improve its defence sector and adapt to new global security challenges.
"Ukraine and our team have unique experience in technology-driven warfare, which we are ready to share with our partners. At the same time, my main focus remains unchanged: I continue to work in Ukraine on projects that strengthen our defence and help attract international resources," the former minister emphasised.
During the meeting, the parties discussed drones, autonomous systems, air defence and the development of the defence tech ecosystem.
Fedorov expressed his conviction that the future of defence belongs to countries capable of rapidly testing and scaling up new solutions by combining technology with strong manufacturing. In his view, Ukraine’s experience could form the basis of a new defence model for Europe.
"We are continuing our international trip. Meetings with partners on digitalisation, defence technologies and the development of new projects lie ahead," the former defence minister added.
As a reminder, on 25 July 2026, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto announced that he had offered former Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov a position as his adviser following Fedorov’s dismissal as Ukraine’s defence minister.
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.
