He failed to close the skies and missed the procurement of missiles for Patriot, but showed an AI video about robots — Magda criticized Fedorov for empty presentations

The “Closed Sky” initiative announced by former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, which promised to shoot down 95% of drones, turned out to be a marketing ploy that failed to deliver the promised results. It has now been replaced by AI videos about an “Army of Robots,” further deepening public disappointment amid Fedorov’s failure to secure the purchase of missiles for Patriot systems and the defense budget funds spent ahead of schedule. Political analyst Yevhen Mahda wrote about this, reports UNN.

"While serving as minister, Fedorov assured people that his developments would help intercept at least 95% of missiles and drones." In the end, the pompously presented “Closed Sky” turned out to be nothing more than words,” the political analyst wrote.

Against this backdrop, Fedorov presented the “Army of Robots.” However, instead of offering new hope, the AI videos may cause even greater disappointment, Mahda believes.

"By showing a nice AI video in which robots are fighting, they are giving us yet another false hope. When there is nothing besides videos, it is demoralizing. Because selling hope in this form to a society seeking salvation in anything it can find is immoral," he said.

The political analyst illustrated the gap between presentations and results with data from Ukrainska Pravda, according to which Fedorov’s team missed the opportunity to purchase missiles for Patriot systems and began other defense procurements with a critical delay.

"While handling the distribution of funds, Fedorov’s team missed the signing of an agreement to purchase missiles for Patriot systems. Representatives of the defense industry told Ukrainska Pravda that under Fedorov, the Ministry of Defense effectively failed tenders for ordering and producing weapons. The Verkhovna Rada’s defense committee is also signaling a defense budget shortfall of $27–28 billion and risks to payments to service members, because Fedorov spent this budget back at the beginning of the year," the political analyst emphasized.

As a result, he said, instead of fulfilled promises, only presentations remain, while problems with procurement, the budget, and military programs now have to be resolved after Fedorov’s resignation.

"This is precisely what is frightening. A bubble of attractive presentations—and that is all. The purchase of Patriot missiles was missed because they were busy disbursing the funds; payments to service members were depleted in advance; the “Contract 18–24” program was never properly launched; the pompously presented “Closed Sky” turned out to be nothing more than words. And against this backdrop, we once again see a Hollywood-style AI video. The “Army of Robots,”" Mahda concluded.

He emphasized that during wartime, society expects such projects to protect civilians and military personnel, without noticing signs that they are fake and merely advertisements. 

"When Fedorov talks about intercepting 95%, people hear that they will be protected. When he talks about new contracts, service members hear that their terms of service will change. When he shows robots, a soldier on the front line hopes that a machine will go there instead of him. When this turns out to be a lie, a kind of “marketing ploy,” it leads to complete disappointment. Therefore, the responsibility for such statements is much greater than the responsibility for yet another startup presentation," the political analyst summed up.