Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the idea of holding elections during the war with Russia, four days after the former Defense Minister publicly called them. “I think that in a war like this, elections as such are a huge risk. The elections at this moment are a tsunami for the country that will divide Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in remarks made public on Sunday. Ukraine’s former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who was fired last month, posted a video on Tuesday in which he called for the country to be given a chance to go to the polls. In the video, Fedorov said that “democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia” and called for a “legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even in the midst of a protracted war.” “We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state,” he added. Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov speaks with CBS News. August 2026. CBS News The move was widely seen as the biggest challenge to Zelenskyy’s power since the start of the conflict, but the ousted minister did not reveal whether he had any political ambitions. The president imposed martial law, which prohibits holding elections, when Russian forces invaded the country in February 2022. In an interview broadcast Sunday by CBS News international partner BBC, Fedorov said the Ukrainian president had “questions to answer” about alleged corruption in his government, citing a money laundering investigation announced last week. He also told the BBC that Ukrainians should not be afraid to discuss the idea of holding elections during war. “If I can’t share my ideas and be open about them with my own society, then why are we fighting?” Fedorov told the BBC. Zelenskyy fired Fedorov in mid-July, citing an unresolvable dispute between him and Zelenskyy’s top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi. The move sparked weeks of protests by thousands of people across the country, criticizing the dismissal of the widely respected minister. Fedorov was credited with turning the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favor, increasing Ukraine’s attacks on Russia tenfold and strengthening its domestic arsenal. Go deeper with The Free Press
