Ukrainian minister says two million avoiding the draft
Widespread desertions and the desertion of two million soldiers are among a host of challenges facing the Ukrainian army, the new defense minister said, as Russia continues its occupation after almost four years of war
Other problems facing the Ukrainian armed forces include excessive bureaucracy, a Soviet-style approach to management and disruptions in the supply of equipment to troops along the 1000 km front line, Mykhailo Fedorov told the Ukrainian parliament.
“We can wage the war not with new technologies, but with an old organizational structure,” Fedorov said.
He said the army faced nearly 200,000 desertions and nearly two million deserters.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appointed 34-year-old Fedorov at the beginning of the year.
Meeting with Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. I am grateful to MPs for supporting Mykhailo. We immediately identified the Department of Defense’s initial priorities. The most important of these is air defense. There are concrete decisions to be made… pic.twitter.com/6PWmxtNczM— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 14, 2026
“We immediately identified the first priorities of the defense ministry. The most important of them is air defense,” Zelenskiy said in a post on channel X after meeting with Fedorov. he said.
The former head of Ukraine’s digital transformation policies is known for pioneering the military’s drone technology and introducing many successful e-government platforms.
His appointment was part of a broad government reshuffle that the Ukrainian leader said was aimed at sharpening the focus on security, defense development and diplomacy amid new pressure to find a U.S.-led peace deal.
Fedorov said the defense ministry faces a deficit of 300 billion hryvnia ($10.3 billion) in financing needs.
The European Union will devote most of a major new loan program to finance Ukraine’s military and economy over the next two years, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
Fedorov said Ukraine’s military sector has expanded significantly since Russia’s large-scale invasion in February 2022.
He said that at the beginning of the war, there were seven private unmanned aerial vehicle companies and two companies developing electronic warfare systems in the country.
He said that today there are nearly 500 drone manufacturers and nearly 200 electronic warfare companies in Ukraine.
He added that some sectors have emerged from scratch, including as many as 20 private missile manufacturers and over 100 companies producing ground-based robotic systems.
