"Italy ‘recruits’ Fedorov" — Italy’s top media outlets ran headlines about the former defense minister beginning work for another country

Italian media published articles with headlines stating that Italy is “recruiting” former Ukrainian Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. The articles appeared after Fedorov announced that he had become an adviser to Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto on defence issues, UNN reports. 

According to Italian media reports, Fedorov decided to cooperate with Italy, providing it with his expertise. 

“It is no coincidence that the main topics of his meeting with Minister Guido Crosetto were drones, air defence and so-called “unmanned” systems—remotely controlled or autonomous vehicles or devices,” Italy’s leading news agency ANSA writes. 

The agency reports that, announcing his new position, Fedorov specified that “Ukraine’s experience could become the foundation for a new European defence model”.

“We must be “able to quickly test and implement new solutions, combining technology with reliable production capabilities. Minister Crosetto expressed his satisfaction: I am glad that Mykhailo Fedorov agreed to offer me his services,” ANSA quotes Italy’s Defence Minister. 

Fedorov, for his part, stressed that “Ukraine and our team “have experience that we are ready to share”. 

“In this position, I will help Italy implement modern technologies of warfare, strengthen its defence sector and adapt to new global security challenges,” Italy’s national news agency Adnkronos quotes Fedorov as saying.

The influential British publication the Financial Times, for its part, writes that Ukrainian MPs, veterans and civil society leaders, including many who supported Fedorov after his dismissal, were outraged by the news of his trip abroad. 

“Many questioned his motives when, on Friday, after a visit to Rome, he announced that he would work as an unpaid adviser to Italy’s defence minister. Oleksii Honcharenko, an opposition MP who chairs the parliamentary investigative committee, wrote that Fedorov’s role in Italy could pose “a threat of leakage of knowledge about our advanced military technologies”, the Financial Times wrote. 

As is known, the Law of Ukraine “On State Secrets” establishes a special procedure for transferring classified information to a foreign state or international organisation—on the basis of an international treaty or another state decision provided for by law. Such actions carried out privately are illegal.