A shake-up in Ukraine’s drone buying alarms corruption watchdogs

Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers discreetly dethroned the former czar of drone purchases.

Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov was the face of a new “army of drones,” a government initiative launched in July 2022 to supply the Ukrainian military with unmanned aerial vehicles.

Critics fear the responsible agency may stop reporting details on over a billion dollars a year of government drone contracts, leaving them vulnerable to embezzlement.

Anti-corruption activists and journalists allege that the changes indicate that the direction of drone procurement was effectively taken over by the allies of Andriy Yermak , head of Zelensky ’s office.

The relationship between the new leaders of the Communications Service is not direct but widely treated as fact by critics.

“ Potiy 's a basic guy from the military. He's very much under the president's office,” a communications officer at the Anti-Corruption Action Center says.

Concern over Zamlynsky ’s appointment reflects his presence in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry during a rations acquisitions scandal.

Critics are concerned about transparency of the Communications Service's drone purchases.

Limited transparency has been at the heart of many of the scandals surrounding Ukrainian military acquisitions, many of which aren't publicly reported at all.