Dorozvidka #17: Interviews with Teletactica and Aerorozvidka, Ukrainian drones for the U.S., and government shifts in the defence sector

The week was packed with political and personnel news in the defence sector. Ukrainian government veteran Denys Shmyhal has been appointed Minister of Defence. The Ministry for Strategic Industries will now be merged into the Ministry of Defence. President Volodymyr Zelensky and the new Prime Minister Yuliya Svyrydenko also announced plans for a major drone deal with the United States. Meanwhile, in the defence business ecosystem, one of the top headlines came from the startup Teletactica, which shared its backstory following the announcement of a $1.5 million investment round.

Read more in Dorozvidka #17.

Shmyhal appointed as the new Minister of Defence

Denys Shmyhal, the longest-serving Prime Minister in Ukraine’s modern history, has become the new Minister of Defence. He replaced Rustem Umerov, who has been appointed Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC).

In addition, the Ministry of Strategic Industries has been merged into the Ministry of Defence. Shmyhal said the decision establishes a unified space for defence governance and improves coordination across all its components.

“The institutional functions of the Ministry for Strategic Industries will be integrated into the structure of the Ministry of Defence — particularly those related to attracting investment in the defence sector and working with partners on joint weapons production,” said the new minister.

Ukraine to sell drones to the U.S.

Yuliya Svyrydenko, who succeeded Shmyhal as Prime Minister, stated during a meeting with journalists that Presidents Zelensky and Donald Trump have reached a political agreement for the sale of Ukrainian drones to the United States, as well as American investment into Ukraine’s defence manufacturing.

“It’s about investing in the expansion of production inside Ukraine. The new Defence Minister, Shmyhal, will now work on this proposal with the U.S. side,” Svyrydenko told Suspilne.

Earlier, Zelensky noted that Ukraine and the U.S. were discussing a large-scale agreement under which the U.S. would purchase Ukrainian combat drones, and Ukraine would, in turn, buy American weapons.

Teletactica raises $1.5M and shares its backstory

One of last week’s key business headlines was the $1.5 million investment round raised by Ukrainian defence tech startup Teletactica, with backing from MITS Capital and Green Flag Ventures.

The tech publication DOU interviewed Yevhen Zhebko, the company’s CEO and co-founder, about Teletactica’s journey — from a grassroots volunteer initiative to an international company. He spoke about how the team had to restart product development from scratch despite an initially successful demo, and how the company plans to scale with the new funding. Zhebko also discussed testing the systems on military ranges, the chaos of current testing environments, and the critical need for proper communications testing labs.

Deputy Defence Minister Kateryna Chernohorenko on protecting Ukraine’s cyberspace

Kateryna Chernohorenko, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defence for Digital Development, Transformation, and Digitalisation, published an article on Mil.in.ua outlining how the Ministry of Defence is working to secure the country’s digital space.

She highlighted the launch of the MIL.CERT-UA cyber incident response centre, the creation of a cybersecurity course for military personnel via Army+, the development of security profiles for Ministry of Defence software products, and the implementation of ISO/IEC 27001 certification for information protection.

Aerorozvidka co-founder Yaroslav Honchar on Ukrainian drone development

The NGO Aerorozvidka plays a vital role in developing and deploying network-centric and robotic military capabilities. In an interview with Militarnyi, co-founder Yaroslav Honchar spoke about the evolution of Ukraine’s drone technologies.

He discussed the ongoing technological race on the battlefield, potential game-changers in the war, and collaboration with innovation partners.