Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian minister who drove major internet businesses to leave Russia, is concerned about his father, who has been in intensive care for the past week after a missile hit the house next door. The youngest minister of Ukraine told the New York Times in his first interview since the crisis broke out that he had been face to face with terror. In a Zoom interview with the New York Times, he added, “The conflict has come knocking on my door as well personally.”
According to the New York Times, the 31-year-old minister participated in the Zoom call from an unidentified location near Kyiv and stated that his purpose was to build a “digital blockage” and make life as difficult as possible. It would be uncomfortable for Russian civilians to question the war. He praised the firms for their help but stressed that there is still more that can be done to keep Russia at bay. And it’s not just because of his tweets to Google, Apple, and Elon Musk that these corporations have turned against Russia; Western sanctions also had a role.
“We feel that as long as Russians remain silent, they are participating in the attack and murder of our people,” he stated.
Fedorov rallied everything he had to target Russia on the Internet as soon as the war started. He also assisted in the formation of a gang of volunteer hackers with the goal of wreaking havoc on Russian websites and internet businesses. During the 45-minute Zoom interview, Mr. Fedorov sat in front of a wood-paneled wall, wearing a loose-fitting grey fleece with black zippers. He gets approximately three to four hours of sleep every night, he claimed, with alarms on his iPhone, which he puts next to his bed, interrupting him every 30 minutes or so. He expressed concern for his father, who has been in intensive care for the past week after a missile hit the house next door, according to the story.
Fedorov ran a digital marketing firm before entering politics, which helped him gain a post as the digital campaign director for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2018. Fedorov has spoken to Zelensky every day since the war began, according to the article.
Fedorov has contacted a number of firms in the previous several days, including Apple, Google, Netflix, SpaceX, Meta, and YouTube. His most recent letter was to Xerox, urging them to halt supplies in Russia.
His isolation strategy has been questioned, but he maintains that it is the only way to get the Russian people to act. “We decided to go into counter-attack after cruise missiles started flying over my house and the residences of many other Ukrainians, and also things started exploding,” he stated in the interview.
“We have the truth on our side.” “I am certain that we will prevail,” the minister stated.
