Well, well, well.  There it is. Even if it is clouded in Reuters News doublespeak and coded language, the answer to the big question about why Zelenskyy fired the most effective military leader is right there.  The key words are, “military procurement system”; or in common language “military spending.”

It never made sense; the 35-year-old Defense Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, was heralded as turning the tide of the war in favor of Ukraine through his adaption of technology, specifically drones, and his very close relationship to Alex Karp of Palantir, a military contractor.  Fedorov was young, smart, strategic and exceptionally capable.  Yet, Zelenskyy fired him.

Now the real motive for dispatching Mykhailo Fedorov surfaces in his interview with Reuters.  Fedorov had taken control of how the military funding was being spent, and as a result, all of those Ukraine government officials and military generals who were pocketing money, redirecting funds, giving indulgences to their families and stealing resources were blocked.

The corruption is so widespread, Zelenskyy had no choice except to eliminate the guy taking control of the payments, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

(July 29 – Reuters) – Former Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, in an interview published on Wednesday, said his efforts to overhaul the military’s procurement system were the main reason behind his dismissal this ​month in a military and political shake-up.

Fedorov, a technical expert seen by many ‌as an agent for change in the nearly 4-1/2-year-old war against Russia, told the media outlet Ukrainska Pravda that the proposed changes met resistance from officials inside and around the ministry.

“The reason is connected with ​procurement, tenders, to the fact that we began overhauling the processes in this ​area,” Fedorov, 35, told Ukrainska Pravda.

“This caused significant dissatisfaction among many people, ⁠who then started constantly exerting influence and spreading negativity, not just around the president but ​across the broader media space.”

Fedorov, who held office for six months, said his first undertaking ​in office was to introduce a tender system for procurement. “Our task was to fix the root of the problem as quickly as possible,” he said.

“First, launch tenders. Second, restructure the management system in the Defence Ministry, ​and choose the people working there differently, based on the goals we came in ​with.”

Fedorov was dropped from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s cabinet and replaced by Yevhenii Khmara, previously head of the SBU security service, in a shake-up that also saw Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko removed. (read more)