Mykhailo Fedorov calls for elections to be held in Ukraine despite war

Mykhailo Fedorov increases the pressure on Volodymyr Zelensky. Dismissed in July by the president, the popular former defense minister called on Tuesday to open the way to elections in Ukraine despite the Russian invasion, to “restore the democratic process”.

“Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia,” asserts Mykhailo Fedorov in a speech broadcast on YouTube, putting back on the table the thorny question of organizing elections, impossible under the martial law in force since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state. […] Thus, we must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even in the midst of a protracted war,” he says.

He recognizes the complexity of organizing a vote in time of war, citing in particular the difficulty of guaranteeing the right to vote for the military, voters in areas close to the front and millions of Ukrainian refugees abroad, arguments already put forward by Volodymyr Zelensky to explain the absence of a presidential election. “But complexity does not mean impossibility. Ukraine has repeatedly done what the world thought impossible. We can find a solution here too,” insists the former minister.

His ouster in mid-July decided by the head of state caused a wave of demonstrations in Ukraine which continued in August and pushed Volodymyr Zelensky to also replace the commander of the army, Oleksandr Syrsky, considered the rival of Mykhailo Fedorov.

The Ukrainian president, on the other hand, appointed Yevgeniï Khmara, a respected head of the security services (SBU) with a CV so far without any political experience, as interim defense minister, seeming to put an end to any hope of reversing his decision.

His final appointment as head of the ministry was submitted for approval to the Ukrainian Parliament, which returned to work on Tuesday after the summer parliamentary break and could vote as early as Wednesday. A new demonstration of support for Mykhailo Fedorov is also planned in front of Parliament this Wednesday morning according to Serguiï Sternenko, his former advisor to the ministry and support.