Ukraine's sacked defence minister Fedorov calls for wartime presidential elections
Fedorov said wartime corruption and rigid institutions are weakening Ukraine’s war effort as polls show more than half of Ukrainians favor elections after the war.
- On Tuesday, Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections in a YouTube address, marking the biggest internal challenge to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy since 2022.
- The 35-year-old Fedorov was fired in July, just six months after his appointment, an action he believes resulted from his overhaul of defence ministry procurement processes.
- Alleging a "systemic crisis of governance," Fedorov criticized official corruption, stating, "The old system lives by its own rules too often. It is scared of change."
- Arguing that "democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia," Fedorov demanded a "legal, safe and realistic mechanism" to renew Ukraine's democratic process during the long-running war.
- Ukrainian law currently prohibits holding elections during wartime, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office has provided no immediate comment on Fedorov's public statement.
271 Articles
271 Articles
Zelenskyy Faces Pressure to Hold Elections. What Stands in the Way?
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks to his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, during a welcome ceremony at the Serbia Palace, in Belgrade, Serbia, on Aug. 8, 2026. —Darko Vojinovic—APUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is facing a major internal political challenge after a recently dismissed defense minister called for a wartime presidential election. But holding an election during an ongoing war would pose enormous legal and l…
Ukraine’s ousted defense minister challenges Zelenskyy with call for wartime elections
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's recently ousted defense minister and one of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's longest-serving political allies, has called for wartime elections, signaling his clearest break yet with the administration that launched his political career.
Mykhailo Fedorov was 'Team Zelensky' from the very beginning. Now that he will not regain his position as Minister of Defense, he seems to be opting for fierce opposition to the government, with an explosive call for wartime elections.
Ex-defense minister calls for elections in Ukraine, Gulf nations are stockpiling oil in Asia, Iran looks at European targets
Zelensky faces mounting election pressureUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky finds himself between a rock and a hard place after recently fired Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov publicly called for new elections on Tuesday. Zelensky declared martial law shortly after the war began, which bans elections for security reasons. Critics have said that Zelensky – now in his seventh year in office – has been in power for too long. Fedorov’s populari…
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for the holding of presidential elections in Ukraine despite the martial law in force since the beginning of the Russian invasion, in what is one of the greatest political challenges to President Volodimir Zelenski since the beginning of the war."A democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia," said Fedorov, 35, in a video released on Tuesday, in which he defended the need to establish …
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