Zheleznyak: Fedorov Believed There Was Still Something Good Left in the President. I Have Long Been Disillusioned

I’m meeting with the Verkhovna Rada’s main insider, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, now, at the National Hotel near the Verkhovna Rada. He warns — we have a maximum of 30 minutes, we need to fit it in. So we’ll speak briefly and focus on the main points — the votes for Khmara and Sybiha, Fedorov’s and Zheleznyak’s political ambitions, whether soldiers will be paid, and whether parliamentary elections are possible right now.

— A few minutes ago you wrote on your Telegram channel that the president did submit to the Verkhovna Rada the nominations of Yevhen Khmara as minister of defense and Andrii Sybiha as minister of foreign affairs. Will there be votes in parliament on this tomorrow?

— There will be. Unfortunately, many colleagues will vote.

— From all factions? Are there people dissatisfied with these nominations at all?

— The majority of colleagues are satisfied. There are people who don’t care — and that’s the majority. There are people who consider this the president’s quota — his choice. There are people like me who think the dismissal was unexplained. So it’s unclear why we are appointing Khmara. Is it because he has a better plan? A better vision? A lower rating? What is the reason for such a replacement?

— How will you personally vote?

— I will not vote.

— How is the issue resolved that by law the minister must be a civilian, and General Khmara is not such a person?

— I think that as of now he is already a civilian.

— In what way?

— I don’t know how they resolved it, but I know the fact. As of now we were informed that he is not a servicemember.

— There won’t be any unexpected stories with the votes for Sybiha?

— No. There will be votes for Sybiha.

— But there is no presidential submission to appoint Oleksandr Poklad head of the SBU. Why?

— He will continue to be acting head, as he is now.

— Why acting head, not without that prefix?

— I think the answer is that it’s very convenient for Zelensky to have the option to replace the person at any moment.

— What were the moods in the Rada this morning? Did deputies understand whether there would be presidential submissions or not?

— These people don’t understand what they will be voting for tomorrow, and you want them to understand the president’s submissions? Although, if you followed my social media, I said it was very likely the submissions would be submitted and done quickly — so they wouldn’t have time to react. That is, submitted in the evening and voted on in the morning. That’s how it’s happening now.

— Do you know why until the last moment Mykhailo Fedorov expected he could return to the post of minister of defense?

— It seems to me that he, as someone who has been with the president for a long time, still believed that there was something good left in the president. Earlier in our conversations I expressed a somewhat different view. I have long been disappointed in him, so...

— Not disappointed in Fedorov, but in the president?

— Well, what does Fedorov have to do with it — Misha is Misha, nothing changed. In the president. For him, I think it’s a story of personal betrayal. Because he really believed in the president, unlike many others.

— And is that why, in your opinion, he was cautious in his statements in various interviews? He didn’t say anything personally bad about the president...

— I think there are two parts. Personal — you know, the biggest disputes are between exes. Accordingly, he didn’t want to cross that line and, indeed, leave some maneuvering room. On the other hand, I think Fedorov understands that then all red lines will be crossed, and work will start against him and his team, especially his team. The same “acting” people we mentioned earlier in the interview.

— And is that why he did not choose the role of leader of the current protests?

— Look, you’re asking a lot of questions that should be asked of Mykhailo. Although all political experts already predict a shared political future for us. But, to be honest, Mykhailo and I never spoke about this topic even once. It seems to me that now is not the time for elections in general, judging by the trends taking place in Ukraine.

— I will ask about your political future later. But first tell me, what political future do you see for Fedorov?

— That’s if he chooses it. As a young person who has already been in politics long enough and, I think, has enjoyed all its shortcomings, Mykhailo could choose a great path in a different direction. And maybe he would be successful there. A good example is Oleksii Honcharuk (prime minister of Ukraine in the 2019–2020 years, editor’s note). He left politics and became a great entrepreneur, a maker of weapons that help us a lot. A great example.

— What business does he have?

— “Magura” (a sea kamikaze drone produced by the company Uforce, editor’s note).

— Cool. You know, a wise person once told me that Fedorov could head a hypothetical new Voice party...

— Like the liberal niche?

— Yes.

— Well, maybe.

— Do you see yourself in that political force?

— If you want to ask whether I see myself in politics — I answer: yes. Do I plan to be in the next convocation of parliament? Yes. Am I preparing something separate in that direction? To some extent yes, and further it depends, forgive me, on when the elections will be.

— What are you preparing? Will it be your own project?

— I generally don’t like the word “project.” But right now we have one of the best automations of different content and analysis processes, on artificial intelligence. We are investing heavily in it.

— “We” — who is that?

— “We” is me and my team, who are now engaged in all our investigations, blogs, analyses. I have one of the best OSINT teams, and definitely in the financial direction. We do a lot — both within my work on temporary investigative commissions and in public activity. So yes, someday I plan to run in elections. But we don’t know when they will be. So it’s strange to talk now about who we will be with in the elections. This is a challenge for Mykhailo and for everyone else. There is no politician now, including those in the top 3, who can say they will run this distance. We don’t even know the year the elections will take place.

— The head of your finance committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, wrote today that this week deputies must vote on all obligations to partners. Otherwise — financial trouble. Are there votes in the hall for all these obligations?

— Not yet, there aren’t. Judging by today, there weren’t enough votes for the Customs Code, it was moved to tomorrow. Right now we haven’t fulfilled obligations for 7,3 billion euros. Maybe more. Most points are technical. But there are important ones: about the State Bureau of Investigation, strengthening VAKS, strengthening NABU and SAP, various anti-corruption initiatives, judges, railways, procurement. Overall it’s a big set of our obligations for European money, IMF funds, American, British, Japanese and others.

— What will happen if this week there aren’t enough votes for these decisions?

— God willing, by the end of the year we’ll at least pass a third of this. I’d already consider that a success at this stage. You know, I’m in an allegorical mood today... It’s like you’re a student, you did nothing all year, you partied, drank, cursed at professors a couple of times, skipped seminars, and now you have to pass the whole exam session at once. And you failed the previous semester and are already on probation. That’s what it’s like for us now.

— Explain what the threat is. Will budget employees not get paid?

— I think it will still be resolved somehow. Some decisions will be adopted. The most likely option is sequestration, that is, cutting some expenditures. There aren’t that many. And reallocating to the military direction in the first place. The best option is we somehow get a loan that we can redirect to those needs. Our biggest problem is the military budget. There’s a hole. I think it’s 200 billion for soldiers’ salaries. The Accounting Chamber counts 365 billion. But I think my figure is more reasonable. This money must be found in any case. Could there be a situation where we don’t pay salaries? No.

— So soldiers won’t be left without pay? Because that would be just brutal.

— No. I think everyone understands how risky the process is. But is it a big challenge, and where to find the money? I haven’t found a person yet who answered that question. That’s why the minister is urgently holding all these meetings about international obligations, demanding the Rada quickly vote on them. It’s a big problem. And it’s growing. Plus ports and railways are blocked. And let’s be honest: now they (the Russians, editor’s note) will strike our elevators.

— By the way, about Hetmantsev. You’re often associated with him. Some people even tell me you’re almost a single team. How would you characterize your connection?

— We just had a fight on social media today! Look, I’m a politician, I’m the first deputy head of the finance committee, I have many people who can work with me situationally and, accordingly, can quarrel with me situationally. Hetmantsev is a person of Zelensky’s team. By my actions, responses and the way I have "attacked" and will "attack" Mindich, Yermak and that same presidential entourage, it doesn’t look like I’m a member of Zelensky’s team. If Hetmantsev and I had some connection, the president and his entourage would already have presented it.

— Yaroslav, by the way, why do you so boldly say what you think on all platforms, criticize the president and his circle? Do you feel any pressure because of that?

— I do.

— What kind? Tell me. Because you say some people are afraid to criticize because the SBU will start working on them...

— Well, they probably have something to grab onto. I have no business. All my assets are known, declared, checked, thank God. I have nothing to hide. Unfortunately, my parents’ business remained entirely in Mariupol.

— What business was that?

— We had a premises and a couple of beauty salons.

— Are your parents here now?

— My father died in 2017. And my mother is here in Kyiv. She works as a massage therapist, if you want to know. Well, a cosmetologist and massage therapist. The pension is low, there were some savings, but...

— How old is your mother?

— 65. But she herself is a pediatrician. And now she works more for herself. That’s so she won’t think she has a bad child who doesn’t help (laughs). So how could they "put pressure" on me? But yes, Yermak wanted to open a case for state treason. Arahamiia — for a Russian trace, for me — an American one.

— That’s what’s against you, Arahamiia, Honcharenko and someone else...

— It seems to be about Hetmantsev. Periodically they tell me things, threaten, field surveillance works, wiretaps...

— Do you notice external surveillance on yourself?

— Right now I don’t notice. I’d be glad to notice. If it could be returned to me, I would feel calmer walking the dog in the evening.

— What kind of threats?

— Well, like “you criticize too much”...

— And from whom did these come?

— From various parts of the president’s entourage.

— Don’t want to say directly?

— Why? They warn. Someone sends a signal, someone warns that way. But, in particular, there were such stories from Yermak’s circle. As you can see, he’s not around now. There was a whole folder found on me. And on the “Mindich tapes” I’m constantly mentioned... Look, I lost too much in Mariupol to be afraid of my own government as well.

— What exactly did you lose there?

— Well, everything. A house. All childhood photos. The whole business.

— Is the house destroyed?

— It seems not. The last neighbors who left said the roof was pierced. I don’t know how to check it now. The only thing that worries me is that children’s photos, drawings, everything remained in the basement. I regret that I didn’t move them to Kyiv. It would be cool to show them to my little one now.

— The last topic I want to touch on. I recently watched another episode of “Ukrainska Pravda.Chat.” And all its participants were pushing for parliamentary elections. What do you think about that?

— I think it’s unrealistic. We’d need a “Death Star” to solve the problem with our enemies in one blow. But the Death Star exists only in Lucas’s films for now. Elections are unrealistic. How would you hold them? Do I like the authorities? No. Should we replace us, the deputies, after we’ve sat there for 3–4 years? Of course. The absence of political competition is one of our biggest problems now. But how exactly can we hold elections? Elections are not one day; it’s a minimum of 60–90 days of campaigning.

— For example, hold voting not for one day but for a week. And with Diia, for instance.

— You’re talking about election day. That’s also a huge infrastructural challenge — all our schools are destroyed in the frontline zone, where would we hold them, and so on. But elections are not just one day! There is the whole electoral process: how military vote, what funding, what system, how campaigning will happen. A candidate appears, a Ukrainian with a Ukrainian passport, and starts to promote things that could get him charged with state treason. But he does this within his political program. Do we disqualify him from the elections for that or not? I follow Ukrainska Pravda and even spoke with many who expressed that position there. It seems to me it’s simply impossible process-wise. I’m afraid it’s an entirely theoretical discussion.

— What to expect from tomorrow’s parliamentary day?

— They will submit, vote for these two — and that’s it. They’ll say it’s a great victory, otherwise Putin will attack again. The standard story. The problem of our whole “series,” it seems to me, is that, like recent melodrama episodes, it has gone into repeats.

Iryna Romaliyska for Censor.NET; printed in 18.08.2026 year

Photo from open sources

“Argument”

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