(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for wartime elections, the biggest challenge to President Zelensky since Russia launched a full-scale invasion.
Ukraine's anti-corruption agency announced on Wednesday (August 19) that it was investigating senior officials in President Zelensky's office. Just a day earlier, Ukraine's recently dismissed defense minister called for national elections, despite good news coming from the front.
Zelensky did not publicly comment on the investigation, but signed an order to remove Iryna Mudra from her position as deputy head of the presidential office.
Zelensky has been dogged by high-level corruption investigations. Last year, his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, resigned after being named a suspect in a major corruption case involving luxury construction projects.
In the same year, a major corruption and kickback scandal involving a state-owned nuclear power company led to the resignations of Ukraine's justice minister and energy minister.
The EU has cited corruption as one of the main obstacles to Ukraine achieving its aspirations to join the bloc.
Political noise from former close allies
Zelensky's dismissal of Fedorov as defense minister last month has put him under pressure. Fedorov is one of the longest-serving members of his team and has been a close ally since helping him win the presidential election in 2019.
Zelensky's attempt to reconcile tensions between young technocratic innovators within the Defense Ministry and Ukraine's battle-hardened battlefield commanders trained in the Soviet system risked angering both sides in the reshuffle. He dismissed both Fedorov and the commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
The move triggered days of street protests in support of Fedorov. For Zelenskiy, this is the second time in a year that wartime decisions have led to strong public backlash - after he moved to weaken the power of the anti-corruption agency in mid-2025.
Fedorov posted a video speech on YouTube late Tuesday night calling for elections in Ukraine. The bombshell statement appeared to be a direct rebuke to Zelensky, who said the vote could not be held under martial law imposed due to the war.
Fedorov said that a set of legal, safe and practical mechanisms must be found to allow Ukraine to restore a complete democratic process even in the midst of a protracted war. He said Ukraine's governance is facing a systemic crisis, arguing that the current system is oriented toward self-preservation and resistance to change. He also denounced corruption among officials, without naming them, saying it undermined Ukraine's ability to fight the war.
Zelensky’s office had no immediate comment on Fedorov’s remarks. It's unclear whether Fedorov's appeal will resonate with the Ukrainian public.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to directly negotiate a peace agreement with Zelensky, claiming that the Ukrainian president lacks legitimacy because his term expires in 2024.
Ukraine's parliament voted on Wednesday to approve Zelenskiy's nomination of Yevhenii Khmara as the new defense minister, a move that effectively closes the door for Fedorov to return to the post in the short term - a move he had previously been interested in. Lawmakers also agreed that Andrii Sybiha, who had previously served as acting foreign minister, should continue to serve as foreign minister.
Victory reports from the battlefield come frequently, but the war dilemma remains
The political turmoil follows recent battlefield gains in Ukraine. With its innovative drone technology, Ukraine repeatedly hit Russian oil facilities, causing fuel shortages; it also attacked the warehouse of Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, shocking the Russian public.
Ukraine also stopped the advance of the Russian army with superior strength on the front line.
However, Zelensky has always struggled to make progress in the U.S.-led peace efforts; due to insufficient U.S. inventories and the unavailability of more U.S.-made "Patriot" interceptors, Ukraine is in a passive position in the face of Russian ballistic missiles.
In the latest attack on oil facilities, a drone hit a refinery in the city of Ufa in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan.
From Monday evening into Tuesday morning, Moscow and its surrounding areas came under repeated attacks by Ukrainian drones. Russia's state news agency TASS said this was the most violent such attack in two years.
Meanwhile, Crimea, which was annexed by Russia, reported power outages after the attack. Data show a significant increase in civilian casualties in Russia.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that Russian air defense systems intercepted 453 Ukrainian drones at night over multiple Russian regions, occupied Crimea and the Black Sea. The Ministry of Defense also said that the Russian military hit a bulk carrier carrying military equipment in the Black Sea southeast of Odessa on Tuesday evening; on Wednesday, the Russian military struck what it said was a Ukrainian military fuel and lubricant storage tank in the southern Ukrainian port city of Chornomorsk.
According to Zelensky and the Russian Defense Ministry, Russia and Ukraine each repatriated 103 prisoners of war on Wednesday.
