KYIV, July 9 — The shift is that Ukraine’s war effort is now as much a tech supply-chain battle as a conventional one, and Mykhailo Fedorov is the man wiring it together. Appointed Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation in 2019 at age 28, Fedorov has become a central figure in the technological aspects of Ukraine’s war effort. Fedorov’s most visible achievement is the Starlink deal.
Since February 2022, he has negotiated directly with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to secure over 42,000 terminals for Ukraine. In March 2024, Fedorov publicly confirmed that Russian forces were jamming Starlink signals, and he has since called for international assistance to counter electronic warfare.
The terminals are not a one-time delivery; they require constant replenishment, maintenance, and protection from enemy EW systems.
The Drone Front
Fedorov also leads the ‘Army of Drones’ project, a government initiative to procure and deploy drones for the military. This is not a small-scale side effort. In 2023, he announced a plan to produce 1 million FPV drones in 2024.
FPV, or first-person-view, drones have become a signature weapon in this war, used for reconnaissance and precision strikes against armored vehicles, artillery, and infantry positions. The scale of the plan — a million units in a single year — signals that Ukraine sees drones as a mass-consumable munition, not a niche tool.
The ‘Army of Drones’ program involves both state procurement and private donations, funneling commercial drone technology directly to frontline units. Fedorov’s digital ministry acts as the logistics hub, coordinating production, testing, and battlefield delivery. The challenge is not just building the drones but keeping them operational against Russian electronic countermeasures.
From Digital Services to War Logistics
Before the war, Fedorov was already a key figure in Ukraine’s digital transformation. He served as an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and was instrumental in building the Diia app, a government services platform that now handles everything from passports to business registration. That background in rapid, user-facing tech deployment translated directly into wartime logistics.
The same team that built Diia now runs drone supply chains and Starlink distribution. Fedorov is a graduate of Zaporizhzhia National University.
His career path — from digital reformer to war-tech czar — reflects how Ukraine’s government has adapted to full-scale invasion. His role makes him a central figure in the technological aspects of Ukraine’s war effort, and his public calls for help on electronic warfare and drone production are aimed squarely at international partners.
What’s Changing
The trend underneath is that electronic warfare is now the decisive layer of the battlefield. Fedorov’s confirmation of Russian Starlink jamming in March 2024 was a rare public acknowledgment of a problem that affects every unit using satellite communications. His call for international assistance to counter electronic warfare is a signal that Ukraine needs more than hardware — it needs counter-EW systems, training, and real-time intelligence on Russian jamming patterns.
The 1 million FPV drone production plan for 2024 is another shift. If Ukraine can manufacture and deploy that many drones, it changes the calculus of attrition.
Drones are cheaper than artillery shells, harder to intercept, and more precise. But they are also vulnerable to EW, and the jamming cat-and-mouse game is accelerating. Watch this space.
Fedorov’s ministry is likely to keep pushing for more Starlink terminals, more drone production capacity, and more international help on electronic warfare. The question is whether Ukraine’s tech-driven approach can outpace Russia’s ability to jam and spoof.
Fedorov has already proven he can move fast in peacetime with Diia. The war is testing whether that speed can keep up with a determined EW adversary.
