Ukraine’s popular ex-defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for wartime elections, in what is widely seen as the biggest challenge to Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidency since Russia’s full-scale invasion four and a half years ago.
“Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia,” said Fedorov, 35, in a video posted to YouTube on Tuesday, adding that Ukraine is fighting “precisely because we want to remain a free European state”.
Since the war broke out in 2022 Ukraine has been under martial law, meaning elections are suspended.
Fedorov, who did not mention Zelensky by name in the video, was unexpectedly fired from his role as defence minister last month, just six months after his appointment.
Zelensky is yet to respond to the video from Fedorov, whose dismissal sparked protests across the country. However, a source in the presidential office told the BBC it was “highly bizarre to plan elections amidst missiles and drones. This demonstrates a complete lack of realism”.
In a separate development, Ukraine’s two anti-corruption agencies said they were conducting a special operation targeting current and former MPs as well as an unnamed official in the presidential office.
Hours later, Zelensky’s office said its deputy head Iryna Mudra had been dismissed, amid local media reports of a raid on her premises. There was no immediate comment from Mudra, although MP Vadym Stolar, whose home was searched as part of the operation, said he was co-operating with anti-corruption officials.
In his video, Fedorov complained that corruption was depriving the military of weapons and equipment and making it harder for Kyiv to win the war. He spoke of Ukraine facing a “systemic crisis of governance” and being “scared of change”.
About 100 protesters gathered outside the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday morning, chanting “bring back Fedorov as minister of defence” and “we are fed up, we want dialogue”.
Fedorov is a charismatic politician, and during his tenure as defence minister, he was credited with energising the ministry, heading a drive against corruption, challenging outdated military structures and transforming the battlefield with new technology.
His dismissal in mid-July is believed to have resulted from tensions between him and army commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Within days Syrskyi was also replaced, as mounting protests calling for Fedorov’s reinstatement piled pressure on the Ukrainian president.
The ousted minister was offered other posts in the government, including deputy prime minister for military innovation, but he made clear he would only return as defence minister.
Shortly before the video was posted late on Tuesday, Zelensky said he had asked parliament to confirm acting defence minister Yevhenii Khmara in the post. MPs overwhelmingly backed Khmara’s role early on Wednesday afternoon, after he told them he would do everything to defend Ukraine and force Russia into a “just peace”.
Fedorov spoke in the video of a sense of injustice, warning it was “particularly dangerous when society develops the feeling that the main criterion for an appointment is not professionalism, results, or the ability to transform the country, but personal loyalty to the system”.
The protests have continued weekly, with younger Ukrainians especially disappointed to see the established armed forces chief favoured over the fresh-faced digital innovator.
His call for elections has angered some Ukrainian commentators, including those who backed Fedorov’s return as defence minister. One of Zelensky’s detractors argued that even the government’s fiercest opponents understood that holding elections during the war was impossible.
Ivan, 24, who was among the protesters calling for Fedorov’s reinstatement outside parliament, told the BBC that “elections at this time of war wouldn’t be the best thing”.
Zelensky’s five-year presidential term ended in May 2024, but under Ukrainian law no elections can be held while martial law is in place.
When US President Donald Trump suggested last year that Kyiv was “using war” to avoid a vote, Zelensky said Ukraine was “ready for elections” within 60-90 days if its allies helped guarantee security for them.
Holding a fair and safe vote would present considerable challenges for a country under repeated Russian bombardment and many Ukrainians saw Trump’s remarks as reflecting Vladimir Putin’s narrative that Zelensky is not a legitimate leader.
In the latest Russian attack on Wednesday, four people were killed when a drone hit a minibus in the southern city of Kherson. Buses and minibuses in Kherson have been repeatedly targeted in recent months, killing drivers and passengers alike.
Oleksandr Merezhko, an MP loyal to Zelensky, said he had backed Fedorov’s return to the defence ministry but found his idea for new elections as “very dangerous and unrealistic”.
“It will weaken the country and our unity, our resilience. That’s why I think that the idea to hold elections unfortunately plays into the hands of Putin.”
However, opposition MP Volodymyr Aryev disagreed, accusing Zelensky of being detached from reality and saying “we have reached a point where we must choose between elections and chaos”.
A former minister of digital transformation, Fedorov set up a volunteer “IT Army of Ukraine” to launch cyber-attacks against Russians in the early days after Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Later, he led a successful fundraising campaign called the Army of Drones and brought in elements of “gamification” to the war, designing a system that awarded Ukrainian military units with credits for hitting Russian targets.
As defence minister, his focus on drones, high-tech warfare and procurement continued, and saw him ask SpaceX founder Elon Musk to stop Russia from using Starlink satellites for drone attacks.
The move has been credited with causing considerable disruption to Russia’s frontline operations and advance.
In a Facebook post shortly after his dismissal, Fedorov listed his achievements and said he would “continue… to defeat the enemy through asymmetry, speed of innovation, and organisational strength”.