Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has returned to Kyiv after a trip to the US and shared the results of his meetings. He announced plans to establish a major venture fund for Defense Tech in Ukraine and launch a think tank to help forecast how the war will evolve.

As defense minister, Fedorov drove Ukraine's shift toward drones, robotics, and data in warfare. His firing in July set off the rare wartime protests that reshaped the military's top command.

The fund targets military startups

The fund will be based in Kyiv and invest in defense technology, Fedorov said, backing not only new military startups but established companies that can scale their systems. He credited contacts built around the US firm Palantir, a tech giant whose clients include the CIA, FBI, Pentagon, and the US military, with helping him raise the resources.

In 2023–2024, Palantir signed memorandums of understanding with Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, Ministry of Education and Science, and Ministry of Economy.

"I've published information about Palantir, and we managed to attract resources that will let us create in Ukraine, in Kyiv, the largest venture fund in the defense-tech direction," Fedorov said.

The company’s products are already helping Ukraine in wartime in areas including security, education, reconstruction, and demining.

He did not disclose the fund's name, its size, or a firm launch date.

A center would forecast Russia's moves

The second project is an analytical center meant to study the war rather than react to it. Its task, Fedorov said, would be to map Russian weaknesses and anticipate Moscow's next steps.

"Over the last seven or eight months, we found the key to the Russians: how to find their vulnerabilities, how to strike and seize the initiative in the sky and on the ground," he said.

Fedorov argued that Ukraine should forecast the war's next moves and prepare solutions in advance rather than only respond.