Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto offers advisory role to ousted Ukrainian minister Mykhailo Fedorov

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said he contacted Mykhailo Fedorov the day after the Ukrainian president removed him as defence minister and invited him to work in Rome as an adviser. Crosetto described the offer as a gesture of respect and friendship and praised Fedorov as a driving force behind Ukraine’s military innovation, noting that he “completely rewrote the rules of the game on the battlefield” by integrating drones, artificial‑intelligence tools and other digital systems.

Fedorov, a 35‑year‑old reformer credited with modernising Ukraine’s defence sector, was dismissed by President Volodymyr Zelensky amid internal disputes, a move that sparked rare wartime protests in Kyiv. He has refused any other government post besides reinstatement as defence minister.

Russia’s foreign‑ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reacted sharply, posting on Telegram that Italy’s choice of adviser was “a mistake” and mockingly suggested that “Osama bin Laden would have been an excellent adviser” to the Italian government. The episode adds another layer to the diplomatic tension between Rome and Moscow over the ongoing war in Ukraine.