Ukraine’s new defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has appointed two prominent Telegram bloggers and activists to his “team of new leaders,” saying they will advise him on defense technology and drone warfare.
The move is a major recognition for the pair — Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov and Serhii Sternenko — who are among the most influential voices among the volunteers filling vital gaps in logistics and drone expertise for Ukraine’s battered military.
Beskrestnov, widely cited among Ukrainians as an expert on drones, runs a Telegram channel with some 156,000 followers, where he publicly analyzes Russian and Ukrainian battle drones and how they’ve performed.
Fedorov named him an advisor in defense technology on Sunday, saying Beskrestnov would focus on helping Ukraine build counter-systems for Russian strike and reconnaissance drones.
In his statement, Fedorov said that Beskrestnov would also support Ukraine’s military in analyzing Russian tech, studying “logistics, study of enemy solutions, and leveraging this experience to our advantage.”
Sternenko, a political activist who now runs an organization that raises funds for military drones, was appointed as Fedorov’s advisor on Thursday.
“From now on, Serhii will act as my advisor on enhancing the use of UAVs at the frontline. His experience will help us implement our shared vision of improving the effectiveness of units operating unmanned systems,” Fedorov said.
The Sternenko Foundation serves as a hub for drone procurement, raising money to buy specialized first-person-view drones for military units that demonstrate they’re combat-effective.
As of Monday, it says it has delivered over 256,000 drones on demand to Ukrainian units.
Fedorov, Ukraine’s youngest-ever defense minister at 35, previously was the country’s minister for digital transformation. Since being confirmed to his new role earlier this month, he’s pledged to revitalize Ukraine’s military, promising to reform its training programs, internal culture, and organizational doctrine.
Appointing Sternenko and Beskrestnov as advisors is a significant change in how Kyiv treats its grassroots movements. These groups work closely with Ukrainian forces, but top authorities have generally been slow to officially recognize or integrate them.
Several frontline units previously told Business Insider that they sometimes rely on the Sternenko Foundation, for example, for drones that can effectively cope with Russian electronic warfare. While the Ukrainian military provides its fighters with drones in bulk, these sometimes need further tweaks as the battlefield evolves rapidly.
Volunteer foundations often step in and have become known for their speed, leveraging connections with drone manufacturers and informal logistics networks to deliver priority supplies, vehicles, and modified drones within hours or days.
Fedorov said that Sternenko would particularly assist in establishing basic support for drone units, adding that 50 of Ukraine’s 400 units account for 70% of its battlefield engagements.
“The objective is to enable the other 350 units to grow quickly and significantly increase the scale of destroying Russian forces,” Fedorov said.
Beskrestnov, meanwhile, regularly publicizes news about Russia’s Shahed-type drones. He often posts footage from found wreckage to show how the Kremlin has been modifying or upgrading the loitering munitions.
Fedorov’s team credited the drone analyst for being the “first to report on the use by Russians of FPV drones equipped with machine vision, as well as the use of jet-powered Shahed drones.”
The new defense minister’s attempt to reshape Ukraine’s military comes as it grapples with a slew of challenges, including heightened fighting intensity on the front lines in recent months and a withdrawal of most US miliary support.
In his opening speech to Ukraine’s parliament, Fedorov said the country was facing a high rate of desertion and draft dodging, and that the military’s budget had shrunk since last year.
