Ukraine’s former defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has called for wartime elections in Ukraine in a shocking address on Tuesday, August 18, citing a fundamental governance crisis and corruption.
His explosive YouTube video message came on the eve of a parliamentary vote that approved the appointment of the ex-head of Ukraine’s Security Services (SBU), Yevhenii Khmara, as the country’s new defence minister.
Widely regarded as President Volodymyr Zelensky’s biggest political challenge since the war began, Fedorov said that “democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia”, claiming that the country wants to remain a free European state.
“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.
Ukraine suspends all elections
Since imposing martial law on 24 February 2022, Ukraine has suspended all elections – a decision that has drawn some criticism from both Moscow and Washington after Zelensky’s five-year term expired in May 2024.
The President’s office has yet to comment on Fedorov’s address, but internal sources have told the BBC that it’s “bizarre” to plan elections amid war, claiming the ousted minister’s urge “demonstrates a complete lack of realism”.
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Fedorov hits out at the cabinet
In his fiery nine-minute-long address, the ex-minister indirectly criticised Zelensky’s government, accusing it of being “scared of change” and warning that the country was facing a “systemic crisis of governance” fuelled by widespread corruption that undermined the country’s war efforts.
He claimed that parliamentary governance cannot be founded upon someone’s private interests, but it “should be based on the majority’s programme, values and principles” because the parliament is the cornerstone of Ukrainian democracy, not a source of financial gain.
“People cannot endlessly live in a state where they do not understand why certain decisions are made. Why some reforms move forward while others are blocked,” Fedorov said.
The former head of Ukraine’s defence department further stated that appointing people based on their loyalty to the system, not on their abilities, professionalism or results, creates a dangerous precedent on Ukraine’s political scene.
Fedorov’s dismissal sparks protests
A long-time ally of Zelensky since 2019, when he was elected as the head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Fedorov was sacked as defence minister in mid-July – merely six months after taking office.
Although no official explanation was given, government sources claimed that tensions with the army’s commander-in-chief, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, had led to his dismissal.
“I would very much like to see unity. The sides have not found it. And the problem lies not only with the sides, but with me as well,” Zelensky said at a press conference with the British Prime Minister at the time, Sir Keir Starmer.
The shock departure of the beloved 35-year-old sparked protests in Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine, with mass rallies calling on the government to reinstate him as defence minister.
After weeks of unrest and mounting public pressure, Zelensky sacked Syrskyi as the head of the army, offering Fedorov other posts in the government, including deputy prime minister for military innovation.
Arguing that only three posts in the country, alongside the army, can have a decisive influence on the course of the war – those of the president, the defence minister and the commander-in-chief – he declined to accept any position other than his former post.
“No other role carries the actual authority to combat procurement corruption, complete the army’s transformation, plan and execute asymmetric operations against the enemy, root out a culture of lies and unaccountability within the system, or finish the initiatives our team has already started at the defence ministry,” Fedorov added.
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