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Fedorov’s wartime election bid
Sacked Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime presidential elections in a video posted to YouTube on Tuesday, framing the move as a response to Ukraine’s “systemic crisis of governance” amid Russia’s full-scale invasion that began in 2022.
“highly bizarre to plan elections amidst missiles and drones”
Fedorov argued that “democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia” and said Ukraine must find “a legal, safe and realistic mechanism” to restart its “full democratic process even in the conditions of a long war,” while Ukrainian law currently bars elections during wartime.
The BBC reported that a source in the presidential office said it was “highly bizarre to plan elections amidst missiles and drones,” as Zelenskyy had not yet responded to the video.
Fedorov, 35, was fired from the Defence Ministry in July, just six months after he was appointed, and the dismissal sparked protests across the country, with about 100 protesters gathered outside the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday morning chanting “bring back Fedorov as minister of defence” and “we are fed up, we want dialogue.”
Zelenskyy rejects, cites risk
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Fedorov’s call, saying in comments published on Sunday that “Elections right now are a tsunami for the country that will split Ukraine,” and adding, “If we want to destroy the country, then we can move in the direction of elections during these times of war.”
In the same dispute, Zelenskyy told reporters that he believes actions taken by dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, including his involvement in mass protests and calls for an election, were misguided, as he publicly detailed their dispute for the first time.
Zelenskyy also said he had offered Fedorov four different options to continue working in the government and that Fedorov rejected all of them, while Zelenskyy linked the political fallout to the risk of elections “during a war like this” and said holding them would generally pose “enormous risks.”
The BBC reported that Zelensky is yet to respond to the video from Fedorov, while a source in the presidential office described the proposal as lacking realism, and the protests continued weekly with younger Ukrainians especially disappointed to see the established armed forces chief favoured over the digital innovator.
Governance, war effort pressures
The election dispute unfolded alongside battlefield and security pressures, with Zelenskyy detailing Ukraine’s growing shortage of Patriot air-defense missiles needed to counter Russian ballistic attacks and saying deliveries from Western allies had declined in the past three years even as Russian missile strikes intensified.
“a $27 billion budget shortfall”
Zelenskyy also described severe financial pressure on Ukraine’s defense effort, saying the Defense Ministry faced a $27 billion budget shortfall after spending decisions earlier in the year brought forward funds originally intended for the second half of this year.
In the same remarks, Zelenskyy highlighted battlefield gains, saying Ukrainian forces have almost completely recaptured the Dnipropetrovsk region, with only about 10 square kilometers (around 4 square miles) remaining under Russian control.
Meanwhile, the BBC reported that Ukraine’s two anti-corruption agencies were conducting a special operation targeting current and former MPs as well as an unnamed official in the presidential office, and that Zelensky’s office said deputy head Iryna Mudra had been dismissed hours later amid local media reports of a raid on her premises.