Fedorov Could Have Become Head of the Presidential Office Instead of Budanov, – Media

After Andriy Yermak was dismissed from the Office of the President, the main candidates for the head of the Office were 2. The candidates were then the head of the Defense Intelligence Directorate Kirilo Budanov and Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

This is written by Ukrainian truth.

What is known about staffing decisions in the OP.

Ultimately President Zelensky made a decision in favor of Budanov. According to the publication, it was driven by the fact that Fedorov took the word “reset” too seriously.

Misha brought to Zelensky in one reform list everything we had been fighting off for years. Therefore he was sent to the Ministry of Defense. Moreover, he was the only one who had his own vision of the war,

— quotes a source close to Zelensky to UP.

The article notes that this vision included not only drones and digitization, but also touched on procurement, personnel appointments, and, ultimately, military command.

At the same time, the first months in the new position looked to Fedorov like an extension of the president’s credit of trust.

“Sociologists convinced: the first wave of negative after the ‘Mindigate’ Zelensky largely endured thanks to surrounding himself with people with high public support — primarily Budanov and Fedorov. People believed not so much in the president, as in the figures they trusted,” the authors note.

Incidentally, Fedorov stated that in June 2026 he proposed to the president to hold elections in Ukraine. Zelensky rejected this initiative due to the risk of competition from the ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.