Fired Ukrainian defense minister calls for wartime elections, escalating pressure on Zelenskyy
Ukraine's former defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, on Tuesday called for the country to find a way to hold elections despite the ongoing war with Russia, a demand that places him in direct opposition to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's martial-law policy and signals a rare moment of political rupture in wartime Kyiv.
Zelenskyy imposed martial law within days of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, a move that suspended elections under Ukrainian law. Since then, officials have repeatedly argued that holding a vote while soldiers are fighting and millions are displaced would be logistically and legally impossible.
In a video address posted online, Fedorov said “democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia” and called for “a legal, safe and realistic mechanism” that would restore Ukraine's democratic process even amid prolonged war. “We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state,” he said.
The former minister's intervention is widely seen as one of the biggest internal challenges to Zelenskyy's authority since the start of the conflict. It comes weeks after the president dismissed Fedorov in mid-July, citing an unresolvable conflict between the minister and Ukraine's top military commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi. That decision sparked weeks of protests from several thousand people across the country, with demonstrators criticizing the removal of a figure credited with strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities.
Fedorov had been a leading figure in Ukraine's military tech strategy, championing the use of drones and robotic systems to offset Russia's advantage in manpower and munitions. Officials and military analysts credit him with helping to increase the number of Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory tenfold, as well as spurring the domestic production of long-range drones and other weapons.
In an interview with CBS News days before his public call for elections, Fedorov said the protests over his dismissal were a sign that Ukrainians continue to embrace democratic values and that the country remains committed to fighting for its freedom beyond the battlefield.
His public proposal now raises a delicate political question for Zelenskyy, who has often presented Ukraine's survival as inseparable from its democratic identity. Some Western allies have quietly encouraged Kyiv to think about post-war electoral planning, but they have also recognized the difficulty of holding free and fair elections under fire. Analysts say Fedorov's appeal could pressure the president to offer a clearer roadmap for democratic continuity, even if no vote is likely to take place while martial law remains in force.
Fedorov did not say in the video whether he intends to enter the political race if elections become possible. He has previously stated that he would only return to government service as defense minister. He acknowledged the practical challenges, such as ensuring soldiers on the front line, residents in combat zones, and millions of refugees abroad are able to vote. “This is complex,” he said. “But complexity does not mean impossibility.”