Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
We collected more quotes from Roman Sitsynin’s interview on Suspilne for you.
In particular, about the review of contracts worth 25 billion UAH that Mykhailo Fedorov’s team initiated. And it seems that not everyone liked that.
📌 About purchases of short-range artillery shells:
"This concerns rockets for multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) with a short range. After analysis, after consultations with dozens of military units that confirmed they do not need this, yet for some reason it was being contracted."
📌 About handheld grenade launchers:
"This concerns grenade launcher rounds and automatic grenade launchers. No need to explain that this has long been a nonfunctional story. Our kill zone is 10-15 km and tripod-mounted grenade launchers have not been used for a year to a year and a half. For some reason the state continued to purchase them, for some reason a need for them was submitted from the General Staff."
📌 About procurement of excavators:
"The Logistics Forces command was funneling the need for excavators to one specific manufacturer. Even though there are another 2-3 foreign manufacturers on the market with absolutely identical specifications. And they are cheaper. But this procurement was effectively written for a single participant."
📌 How this was countered:
"We observed such procurements constantly. These are not exceptions, this is the usual everyday situation when a need was issued, possibly veiled toward specific manufacturers. And actually, Mykhailo’s team and the relevant deputy Mstyslav (Banik) fought this, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much, adjusted it, initiated reviews, it all dragged on, but nevertheless they managed to knock down some of those cases, some they did not."
📌 Why all this is still being purchased:
"Maybe someone needed all this to get into the requirements. I won’t venture to comment or assert anything for sure here, but I repeat that we are talking about billions and billions of hryvnias that could have been redistributed to more priority things. The same drones, the same loitering munitions, the same EW equipment, pickups, buggies, and so on."
📌 About Fedorov’s team consulting with the military:
"There is constant direct contact with the military. This is all done based on common sense, because part of the team are people who have been in combat and understand the battlefield. And when you see that short shells are being bought, and now artillery does not operate at distances less than 10-12-15 km, then this is absolutely impractical. Plus there is constant contact and feedback from unit commanders and so on."
📌 About the reasons for Fedorov’s dismissal:
"One of the reasons is precisely the progress in reforming defense procurement and opening the market to a wide range of participants, suppliers, manufacturers. These are more competitive, transparent, and understandable conditions for market participants. And this is a partial minimization of corruption risks, because our defense budget is over 1 trillion UAH. This is a huge budget with a rather closed framework."
If you haven’t seen it, below is the video of Sitsynin’s conversation with Suspilne, which makes it even clearer why Fedorov was removed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOGrQ2gwQ30
Telegram publication