On Tuesday, Ukraine’s former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov made a bombshell video address on behalf of the government to request the holding of wartime presidential elections. The former official has said that the country is experiencing a crisis of governance on a systemic level. It’s the first time since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 that a major political figure has called for a vote.
The state of martial law is currently in force in Ukraine and elections are strictly forbidden by current Ukrainian law. But Fedorov emphasized that democracy should not be in the hands of anyone, and called for finding a secure and legal way to re-generate the democratic process. His unprecedented remarks pose a serious internal challenge to the President of Ukraine’s office.
Fedorov was unexpectedly removed from the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine in July – after only six months – and was formerly a close ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky. The minister had been a public critic of the armed forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi over the military strategy and sweeping procurement reforms.
Since Fedorov’s dismissal, thousands of people protested in Kyiv, calling for the dismissal of Syrskyi due to the loss of many front-line troops. Eventually Zelensky caved in to public pressure and fired the military chief. Nevertheless, frequent rallies in favor of Fedorov are still held in the capital.
During his speech, Fedorov criticized the current official corruption, saying that the “old system” is afraid of change and that it “actively works against the war effort. His remarks coincided with the formal application of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada to confirm a new Defence Minister, Yevhenii Khmara, who is from the Party of Regions.His remarks coincided with the formal request of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada to confirm the new Defence Minister, Yevhenii Khmara, who is from the Party of Regions.
Fedorov didn’t explicitly announce intent to run for the president, but recent polls indicate he would easily win in a run-off against Zelensky. In his six-year tenure with the ministry he made himself an overnight star in Ukraine, creating a national profile for himself.
Fedorov was the sole member of Zelensky’s former cabinet from 2019, and served in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. In January, he was placed in charge of defense and immediately began to implement a strategy based on the data which focused on dominating Russia technologically before his sudden dismissal.
