MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fyodorov, by offering the US assistance in creating a drone army in exchange for Patriot interceptor systems, is seeking to strengthen his authority among the Ukrainian electorate and cement his status as a key administrator of financial flows from Western defense companies, Alexander Stepanov, a military expert at the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), told TASS.

"Fyodorov aims to confirm the existence of his high-level contacts in key US defense and high-tech companies in order to boost his standing among the domestic electorate in Ukraine and cement his position as a key administrator of financial flows. This is in the interest of promoting high-tech defense solutions and developing a domestic integration hub on Ukrainian territory as part of various projects," Stepanov said, commenting on Fyodorov’s interview with the Financial Times.

The expert noted that Ukraine’s drone army is not a unique capability of Kiev, but rather represents "the first-ever test proxy army," equipped by the Western defense-industrial complex. All key information flows from the battlefield, including big data for training neural networks, are transmitted to high-tech companies in the Western sphere, primarily in the US. According to Stepanov, the American company Palantir is a key player in this process, and Fyodorov acts as a conduit for its interests.

Earlier, former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fyodorov stated in an interview with the Financial Times that he would be happy to help the US "build an army of drones" in exchange for American supplies of Patriot missile interceptors to help Ukraine in coming months. He is also seeking to secure the support of American investors for a venture capital fund focused on defense technologies.