Zelensky Offers Ivan Fedorov, Head of Zaporizhzhia OVA, to Lead the Recovery Agency

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration (RMA/OVA), a new position — to lead the Recovery Agency and take responsibility for protecting strategically important facilities across the country. Fedorov himself announced this during a public report marking the 1,000 days of his tenure as head of the regional administration, as reported by RBC-Ukraine citing Ukrinform.

An Extremely Complex Offer from the President

According to Fedorov, he had a substantive conversation with the president, during which Zaporizhzhia Oblast was named an unconditional priority for the state. “The enemy will continue to strike strategic facilities, so they must be protected to the maximum extent and restored as quickly as possible. To be frank, I received an extremely complex offer — to lead the Recovery Agency and take responsibility for protecting strategically important facilities across Ukraine,” the OVA head said. This effectively expands his mandate from the regional to the national level, reflecting the logic of centralizing efforts to restore infrastructure damaged by hostilities.

Two Lines of Responsibility, Not a Departure from the Region

Importantly, according to Fedorov himself, moving to the new role does not mean he is leaving Zaporizhzhia Oblast. He emphasized that this involves combining two lines of responsibility: continuing to work in the region as co-chair of the Defense Council while simultaneously scaling the accumulated Zaporizhzhia experience across all of Ukraine. “But this transition does not mean I am leaving Zaporizhzhia Oblast. On the contrary — it is a combination of two lines of responsibility. I will continue to work here as co-chair of the Defense Council and, together with my team, I will be responsible for Zaporizhzhia and will scale our experience across all of Ukraine,” he explained. At the same time, the primary sources explicitly note that, as of publication, no official decision had been made regarding Fedorov's dismissal from the OVA head post or his appointment to the new role.

Leadership Change at the Recovery Agency

Zelensky's offer fits into the context of personnel reshuffling at the Recovery Agency itself. The current head of the agency, Serhiy Sukhomlyn, submitted a resignation on his own initiative on July 29, 2026; he had led the agency since September 2024. Thus, the head position becomes vacant, and Fedorov's figure is being considered as one of the possible candidates for the role, although a formal appointment has not yet taken place.

Economic Context: Billion-Hryvnia Business Losses

The decision to transfer responsibility for protecting and restoring strategic facilities to a single coordinator is being made against the backdrop of ongoing massive losses for Ukrainian businesses due to Russian shelling. In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Danylo Hetmantsev, head of the Verkhovna Rada's finance committee, stated that the losses of the largest retailers are measured in billions of hryvnias. In response, the government is preparing to expand preferential credit programs and insurance limits for military risks. Meanwhile, as the publication notes, despite the war, private businesses continue to invest in the country's recovery, making the prompt protection of facilities critically important for preserving the investment climate.

Contradictory Data

The available sources contain differences in wording that should be taken into account. First, some media outlets (in particular, Fakty.com.ua) frame the news as Fedorov's “departure” from the OVA head post, whereas in the primary text from Fedorov himself and RBC-Ukraine it is explicitly emphasized that no official decision on dismissal and appointment has yet been made — there is only an offer. Second, the headline of one source (Focus.ua) uses the phrasing “former defense minister,” whereas in the main version of the event the discussion centers on his current role as head of the Zaporizhzhia OVA and his future role as co-chair of the Defense Council. These inconsistencies do not change the essence of the message about Zelensky's offer, but they indicate that Fedorov's final personnel status remains uncertain until an official decision is made.