Zelenskyy rejects wartime elections, cites “huge risk”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the idea of holding elections during the war with Russia, four days after the former defense minister publicly called for them. 

“I believe that in a war like this, elections as such are a huge risk. Elections right now are a tsunami for the country that will split Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in remarks made public Sunday.

Ukraine’s former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who was fired last month, posted a video Tuesday where he called for the country to be given a chance to go to the polls.

In the video, Fedorov said “democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia,” and called for a “legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amidst a prolonged war.”

“We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state,” he added.

The move was widely seen as the largest challenge to Zelenskyy’s power since the start of the conflict, but the ousted minister did not reveal whether he had any political ambitions for himself. The president imposed martial law, which prohibits elections from being held, when Russian forces invaded the country in February 2022.

In an interviewed aired Sunday by the BBC, which is CBS News’ international partner, Fedorov said the Ukrainian president had “questions to answer” about alleged corruption in his government, citing a money laundering investigation announced last week. He also told the BBC Ukrainians should not be afraid of discussing the idea of holding elections during the war.

“If I cannot share my ideas and be open about them with my own society, then what are we fighting for,” Fedorov told the BBC.

Zelenskyy fired Fedorov in mid-July, citing an unsolvable feud between him and Zelenskyy’s top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi. The move sparked weeks of protests from thousands of people across the country, criticizing the removal of the widely respected minister.

Fedorov was credited with turning the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favor, increasing Ukraine’s strikes deep into Russia tenfold and bolstering its domestic arsenal.