Ukraine's ousted drone chief takes advisory role in Italy

Ukraine's ousted defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has accepted a job as an adviser to Italy's defence minister, according to reports in The New York Times and The Local Italy. The appointment, confirmed on Friday, comes weeks after Fedorov's dismissal from Kyiv's government prompted rare wartime protests in Ukraine.

Fedorov, who was responsible for Ukraine's military drone programme, will bring direct experience of battlefield innovation to Rome. The New York Times noted that the appointment "showed how other militaries are racing to adapt to battlefield changes accelerated by the war in Ukraine."

The move places Italy at the centre of a broader European effort to integrate drone warfare and real-time battlefield technology into national defence strategies. For the Lazio bureau, the significance lies in Rome's role as the seat of government and the Ministry of Defence, where such strategic appointments carry weight beyond the individual.