Archive · 26 Aug 2026
Ousted Ukrainian Minister Warns Kyiv Is Slowly Losing War
Mykhailo Fedorov, a former Ukrainian defence minister, says Ukraine is slowly losing its war with Russia.
He says the country needs to make important decisions within a few months.
Fedorov believes Ukraine lacks a clear plan for winning.
He also says corruption and political disagreements are hurting the war effort.
Russia is attacking Ukrainian factories and warehouses with missiles.
Ukraine is running low on some air-defence missiles.
Ukraine is using drones and missiles to attack targets inside Russia.
Ukraine’s president’s office disagrees with Fedorov and says his view changed after he left government.
Former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukraine is slowly losing ground and has only months to change course.
Fedorov blamed the lack of a clear strategy, corruption, political interference and slow technology adoption.
Russia is striking Ukrainian factories and warehouses while Ukraine’s air-defence interceptor stocks decline.
Russian forces are advancing slowly in the Donbas, while Ukraine targets Russian military sites and oil refineries with drones and missiles.
Fedorov defended increased defence spending and called for wartime elections, intensifying his dispute with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
- Who
- Former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and their respective offices are central to the dispute.
- What
- Fedorov warned that Ukraine is slowly losing ground and criticized Kyiv’s strategy, spending, technology adoption and governance.
- When
- Fedorov said Ukraine has only a few months to make decisions that could change the war’s course; he was removed from office last month.
- Where
- The war is taking place in Ukraine and includes Ukrainian strikes on targets inside Russia, with Russian advances in the Donbas.
- Why
- Fedorov said Ukraine needs a clearer strategy, faster adoption of military technologies and more effective state operations.
Fedorov’s assessment
Kyiv’s response
War trajectory
Fedorov’s assessment
Fedorov said Ukraine is gradually and slowly losing ground and faces a turning point.
Kyiv’s response
Zelensky’s office rejected the implication, saying Fedorov had expressed a positive view of the war while serving as minister and that only his personal status had changed.
Military strategy
Fedorov’s assessment
Fedorov said Kyiv lacks a clear winning strategy and is failing to adopt existing technologies quickly enough.
Kyiv’s response
Kyiv’s official messaging presents a more positive assessment of the war, although the article does not provide a detailed government strategy.
Defence spending
Fedorov’s assessment
Fedorov defended bringing forward defence spending, saying the plan relied on procurement savings and international support.
Kyiv’s response
Zelensky said the spending plan created a $27 billion budget gap.
- Speaker
- Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s ousted defence minister
- Conflict
- The four-year-old war between Ukraine and Russia
- Russian operations
- Russia continues missile strikes on Ukrainian factories and warehouses
- Ukrainian position
- Ukraine’s air-defence interceptor stocks are running low
- Fedorov’s proposals
- Accelerated development of autonomous artificial-intelligence drones, inexpensive interceptor missiles and a Ukrainian ballistic-missile program
- Budget dispute
- Zelensky said Fedorov’s defence spending plan created a $27 billion budget gap; Fedorov disputed that figure
- Elections
- Fedorov called for wartime elections, but martial law currently prevents them