Mykhailo Fedorov: From Zaporizhzhia Digital Marketer to Ukraine's Defense Minister
Ukrainska Pravda has published an extensive profile of former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, tracing how a chance 2018 meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky led to nearly eight years of collaboration on state digitalization and later national defense.
In July 2018, 27-year-old digital marketing entrepreneur Mykhailo Fedorov traveled from Zaporizhzhia to Kyiv to pitch a promotional concept for "Ze kubiki," a then-obscure sports project, to the "Kvartal 95" studio. During the presentation, a studio executive introduced him to Volodymyr Zelensky himself, who had not yet publicly announced any plans to run for president. Zelensky unexpectedly asked whether it was possible to build a state where all services were available online within minutes. Fedorov said yes, and that conversation launched a partnership that would last almost eight years.
From Vasylivka to business
Fedorov grew up in Vasylivka near Zaporizhzhia, in an environment he describes as post-Soviet and partly shaped by prison culture. As a schoolboy he played chess and earned money through seasonal work and by selling virtual in-game currency to classmates. After studying sociology at Zaporizhzhia National University, he built an advertising business placing ads in elevators, later founding the digital marketing agency SMMStudio.
From Diia to combat drones
After meeting Zelensky, Fedorov joined his party's electoral list and, following Zelensky's election victory, became Ukraine's first Minister of Digital Transformation. Under his leadership the government launched the Diia app, introduced electronic documents, and created a special tax regime for the IT sector. During the war, Fedorov shifted focus, becoming Defense Minister and turning his attention to combat drones and military technologies intended to let Ukraine respond asymmetrically to Russia.
