Fedorov presents mobilization reform plan to lawmakers: billions, digitization, and classified details on military recruitment centers

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov held a closed-door presentation on mobilization reform for members of parliament. The lawmakers themselves reported on the meeting via their social media accounts.

Deputy Roman Kaptelov gave a sharply critical assessment of the minister’s address. According to him, everything in the presentation “is measured in billions and trillions,” and the presentation itself looks “beautiful, grand, and very virtual.”

“After his speech, I understood one thing — he loves spending money. Because everything there is measured in billions and trillions. And that is the main point. Everything looks beautiful, grand, and very virtual. It creates the impression that the person lives somewhere between presentations and computer simulators, rather than in reality,” Kaptelov wrote.

In his assessment, Fedorov spoke on the topic of mobilization “without understanding the situation and without any desire to actually solve anything.” Kaptelov also noted that neither he nor his colleagues from Dnipro received answers to a single specific question, and expressed pessimism about how the situation would develop going forward.

Deputy Musa Magomedov also reported on the meeting with Fedorov. According to him, it covered changes to approaches to mobilization and recruitment, a shift from coercion to motivation, digitization of registries and processes, support for Ukrainian weapons and ammunition manufacturers, government procurement, international assistance, strengthening of air defenses, and fairer service conditions for military personnel.

MP Oleksandr Fediienko stated following the meeting that the Ministry of Defense would soon present a reform of the military recruitment centers (TCK). He provided no specifics, citing the classified nature of the information. A number of other meeting participants also indicated that some projects related to the work of military commissariats had been presented in a closed format.

Ukrainian media had previously reported that Fedorov intended to present lawmakers with his vision for reforming service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It became known in April that the Ministry of Defense was preparing a reform aimed at improving recruitment and service conditions in the Defense Forces.