Jan 2 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday proposed appointing First Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov as Ukraine’s new defence minister, praising his abilities in developing the drones and digitalisation needed for the country’s defence.
Fedorov also served as minister of digital transformation and his appointment must be approved by parliament. He is to replace Denys Shmyhal.
“Mykhailo is deeply engaged in the ‘drone line’ initiative and works very effectively on the digitalisation of state services and processes,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
“Together with all our military personnel, military command, national weapons manufacturers and Ukraine’s partners, we must implement changes in the defence sector that will truly help.”
Zelenskiy said the ministry had shown good results under Shmyhal, a former prime minister, and that he was being offered a new government post.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski in Winnipeg and Oleksandr Kozhukhar in Kyiv; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
