New Delhi: Ukraine’s sacked defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for wartime Presidential elections to be held in the country Tuesday, arguing that the nation faced a crisis of governance. This is the biggest challenge to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presidency since Russia’s invasion.
Fedorov made the appeal through a video message posted on Youtube, saying Ukraine must find a way to restore a full democratic process even during the prolonged conflict.
Though he did not mention Zelenskyy directly, he suggested that the current government in Ukraine was not working well and had failed to deal with corruption.
This is the first such demand by a major Ukrainian political figure since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in Feb 2022.
So far, no other major political figure has publicly demanded presidential elections, because Ukrainian law prohibits holding elections in wartime.
“Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia,” Fedorov said in his nine-minute speech. “We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to renew its full democratic process even in the conditions of a long war,” he added.
The 35-year-old minister was a longtime ally of Zelenskyy until his unexpected firing from the defence ministry 15 July due to clashes with the military command, just six months after he had been appointed.
Fedorov’s influence on Ukraine’s war effort began long before he formally took charge of the defence ministry.
Fedorov helped establish the ‘Army of Drones’, which began in 2022 as a crowdfunding and procurement initiative to supply Ukrainian units with unmanned aerial vehicles.
As Ukraine expanded its drone programme, it established the Unmanned Systems Forces in June 2024—the world’s first dedicated military branch focused on drone warfare.
As defence minister, Fedorov pushed a data-driven strategy intended to counter Russia’s larger army through speed, automation, robotics, and domestically produced weapons.
His ministry increased production of reconnaissance and long-range strike drones used to target Russian logistics, ammunition depots, radar systems, air defences, and oil infrastructure.
His dismissal in July triggered protests, with his supporters calling for Fedorov’s return to the government.
Zelenskyy has selected Yevhenii Khmara as the new defence minister for Ukraine and Fedorov’s call for elections came as Ukraine continued to face Russian attacks and growing concerns over corruption and governance.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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