MP Hetmantsev spent year focusing on me - Fedorov on systematic media attacks against him
Mykhailo Fedorov, who has headed the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine since January 2026, has reported on media attacks directed at him throughout his tenure, specifically via the Trukha Telegram channel, and highlighted the role of Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Danylo Hetmantsev in this context.
As an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports, Fedorov stated this at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
".. But the right question is about Telegram channels. My question is, who bought Trukha? The question is, why, from the moment Trukha was bought for billions of hryvnias, did it start working purely against me? Why did Trukha start writing about the territorial recruitment and social support centers (TRCs) and dragging me into it, specifically claiming that I am involved in all TRC cases? Why did the TRCs start announcing certain investigations that many law enforcement officers are circulating among themselves?" he said.
Fedorov added that he sees these cases, including informational attacks on members of his team.
"..and we will talk about this separately, I will never remain silent if, God forbid, even the slightest thing happens to the members of my team," he added.
Fedorov posed the question, "who writes the talking points for Hetmantsev?"
"Who bought Trukha? Who writes the talking points for Hetmantsev? Who is fighting for the gambling business? Hetmantsev spent a year focusing on me. A person invested a year… Who is doing all this? I have questions. So, all these media attacks, I closed my eyes to them, and let them be. I understand how this functions within our society. It should not be like this. Well, there were many attacks on the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), and what did we see last year? That is, this is a history that also requires an answer in a new social contract," he said.
Separately, Fedorov raised the question of whether a person or a group of people can generally "buy the largest media outlet in Telegram and start hitting the Minister of Defense during a full-scale war."
"It does not matter if it is Umerov, Shmyhal, Fedorov, Klymenko, or someone else. Can it be like this during a full-scale war? And in fact, this is part of the questions that are not talked about publicly. But we need to look for an answer. And who is behind this?" he noted.
Fedorov also addressed journalists with a call to "find these people."
"If law enforcement agencies could not react to this, please find out who," Fedorov said.