Volodymyr Zelenskyy has finally spoken out on a question that’s been building pressure inside Ukraine for weeks. Holding elections while the country is still at war, he says, could end up tearing the nation apart, especially at a moment when Russia is stockpiling ballistic missiles and reportedly weighing whether to call up 300,000 additional soldiers.
According to a report from The Guardian, this marks the first time the Ukrainian president has directly addressed a demand raised by Mykhailo Fedorov, the former defense minister he dismissed just weeks earlier.
Why Zelenskyy Says an Election Would Backfire
Speaking to a small group of journalists during a briefing held Saturday, with details emerging Sunday, Zelenskyy didn’t mince words about what he thinks would happen if Ukraine moved forward with a vote right now.
“I believe that if we want to destroy the country, then during such a war we can move in the selection of elections,” he said. He went further, describing elections under current conditions as something close to a natural disaster for the country. “Elections right now are a tsunami for the state that will split Ukraine,” he said.
His stated priority instead is straightforward: end the war first, and keep Ukraine standing as an independent nation.
A Vote That’s Been on Hold for Years
Ukraine hasn’t held elections since martial law took effect at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Technically, Zelenskyy’s five-year term as president expired back in May 2024, but for most of that time there was little appetite inside the country to hold a contest while fighting continued.
That changed when Fedorov entered the picture. He had been a well-liked minister until Zelenskyy removed him from his post roughly a month before this latest controversy. Once out, Fedorov became the loudest internal voice calling for a wartime election, and his push represented the most direct challenge to Zelenskyy’s leadership that has surfaced from within Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began.
What Would Need to Happen First
Zelenskyy didn’t rule out elections forever. According to a transcript of the briefing, he said he’d back the idea if Ukraine’s international allies helped set clear conditions that would allow a vote to happen safely, legitimately, and democratically.
He outlined some of what that would actually require. Soldiers on the front lines would need to be able to participate, as would the millions of Ukrainian citizens who fled the country because of the war. On top of that, the vote itself would need to happen without active strikes or shelling threatening polling locations.
Zelenskyy Addresses the Fedorov Fallout
The Ukrainian president also used the briefing to explain why he removed Fedorov in the first place. According to Zelenskyy, Fedorov had overstepped his role, taking on responsibilities that belonged to the military rather than his own ministry. He added that Fedorov turned down four other government positions he was offered afterward.
Despite the falling out, Zelenskyy was careful to note that his personal feelings toward Fedorov haven’t soured. “I really had and still have a very positive attitude toward Mykhailo,” he said. “We have been through a lot together. But I believe that he himself goes, or is pushed, into the wrong things.”