Ukraine’s tech evangelist defence chief preaching the ‘future of war’
The Straits Times
He took over an apparatus facing stretched air defences, financial uncertainty and stalled peace talks. Read more at straitstimes.com.
KYIV - Ukraine’s newly installed defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov waltzed on stage like a stand-up comedian to take the mic in front of journalists in Kyiv as a sleek slideshow zoomed across a map of the country.
The Ted-talk style briefing – a departure from the ministry’s previously stiff approach – encapsulates the energy Mr Fedorov is trying to inject into Ukraine’s war machine, four years into the Russian invasion.
Appointed in January, the 35-year-old with short salt-and-pepper hair is Ukraine’s youngest ever defence minister.
On a mission to modernise the army, he took over an apparatus facing stretched air defences, financial uncertainty, stalled peace talks, recruitment problems and widespread bureaucracy and war fatigue.
“We will turn the war into a data platform,” said Mr Fedorov, wearing his trademark sweatshirt and jeans in a speech punctuated with jokes.
“We will take all the data and see what works. Everything that works well will proceed,” he said – a personal mantra that would not appear out of place in Silicon Valley.
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