All of the Ukrainian leader’s defense chiefs are linked by the same common thread: corruption
Mikhail Fedorov is the latest on the conveyor belt of defense ministers to serve under Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky. None of his three predecessors have managed to turn the country’s campaign against Russia around, yet it’s been venal corruption – and not strategic failure – that ended all of their careers.
Zelensky’s defense chiefs have all been handed an impossible task: deliver the victory promised by Zelensky to his Western sponsors, in a conflict against Russia that Ukraine – disadvantaged in manpower and materiel – is predetermined to lose. Furthermore, they have been tasked with managing tens of billions of dollars in foreign cash, atop a ministry plagued by graft and embezzlement.
Aleksey Reznikov (November 2021 – September 2023)
Reznikov is the only one of Zelensky’s wartime defense ministers with any military experience, having served as a commando in the Soviet Air Forces during the 1980s. Thrust into the international spotlight when Russia’s military operation began in 2022, his initial task was to secure as much foreign aid as possible, and in that regard, he succeeded.
Former Minister of Defence of Ukraine Aleksey Reznikov. © Getty Images / Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard BergMore than €100 billion ($115 billion) flowed into Kiev’s coffers during the first year of the conflict, with military aid accounting for roughly half of that amount, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute.
That money soon began to disappear. Reznikov was implicated in multiple graft scandals: his ministry allegedly spent $17.8 million procuring food for soldiers at three times the high-street price; paid a Polish company roughly $95 million for weapons that never arrived; and bought summer jackets during wintertime for triple the list price, from a company owned by a relative of a ministry official.
After the Ukrainian military’s 2023 ‘counteroffensive’ against Russian forces ended with no territory retaken and an estimated 160,000 men lost, the writing was on the wall for Reznikov. He handed Zelensky his resignation on September 4.
Rustem Umerov (September 2023 – July 2025)
Transferred to the Defense Ministry from Ukraine’s state property fund, Umerov’s tenure was tainted with allegations of corruption from the outset. One month before his appointment, Ukrainian media reported that Umerov was under investigation for his role in obstructing an embezzlement probe.
Former Minister of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umerov © Getty Images / Kevin DietschIn January 2024, Umerov promised to “eradicate corruption” and root out “unscrupulous participants” from the ministry. Three weeks later, ministry officials were investigated for embezzling $40 million intended for the purchase of mortar rounds, and the Pentagon announced that it was probing 50 cases of “theft, fraud or corruption, and diversion” of American military aid.
Later that year, Ukrainian media exposed a scheme in which military and civilian authorities in Kharkov Region paid millions of dollars to fake companies for the supply of non-existent building materials to construct defensive fortifications, leaving the region undefended when Russian troops rolled in.
Umerov weathered similar accusations for another year, until he was finally ousted after attempting to merge two state defense procurement agencies – a move that NATO argued would elevate the risk of further corruption.
Denis Shmigal (July 2025 – January 2026)
Taking over at the Defense Ministry after five years as Zelensky’s prime minister, Shmigal was free of the more public and venal scandals that tarred Reznikov and Umerov, and represented something of a clean slate.
Former Minister of Defense of Ukraine Denis Shmigal © Getty Images / Danylo AntoniukInstead, public anger at Shmigal focused on the increasing brutality of Ukraine’s military conscription. Shmigal did little to reassure the public when he told parliament in July 2025 that if men simply volunteered, “there will be no need for such a forceful mobilization.”
However, corruption would indirectly play a part in his dismissal and transfer to Ukraine’s Energy Ministry. The Energy Ministry had been left leaderless since November, when it was revealed that Zelensky’s associate and one-time financier, Timur Mindich, ran a $100 million kickback scheme at nuclear operator Energoatom.
A probe by NABU, Ukraine’s US-linked anti-corruption agency, led to the resignations of Justice Minister German Galushchenko and Energy Minister Svetlana Grinchuk, as well as Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak.
Shmigal’s appointment as energy minister was approved by parliament on Wednesday.
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