Former Ukrainian defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov’s call for elections in Ukraine is making waves. In a video message to the Ukrainian people earlier this week he said a legal, safe and realistic mechanism must be found to allow elections to be held despite the ongoing war. Commentators debate the motives behind the popular politician’s move.
Lack of oversight encourages corruption
Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung weighs up the arguments, but points out:
The war is indeed damaging Ukrainian democracy… And the longer the war lasts, the more serious the damage becomes. Both the president and the members of parliament have already remained in office well beyond their normal terms of office. This lack of turnover weakens oversight of the government and encourages corruption, nepotism and the establishment of authoritarian structures – the very evils that the revolutions of 2004 and 2014 aimed to combat and which Volodymyr Zelensky also promised to tackle before his election seven years ago. It is no coincidence that the number of scandals involving his inner circle has steadily increased as the war has dragged on.”
This initiative carries risks
Fedorov does not question the legitimacy of existing structures under the current constitution, Slovakia’s Sme stresses:
Rather, he argues that this model has had its day, or is running out of steam and must be revitalized by restoring trust and oversight processes, including (but not limited to) elections. At the same time, he acknowledges the extraordinary difficulty of this task... The state needs a mechanism to restore trust. However, this in no way allays fears that a genuine political struggle could lead to a collapse of authority, which would in all likelihood mean the collapse of the front.
Putin would relish the opportunity
This is really not the time for elections, warns the UK’s The Telegraph:
Putin – for one – would relish the opportunity to exploit Ukraine’s internal political wrangling to his own advantage. An election campaign that focused predominantly on corruption allegations and political infighting would also play into the hands of Western leaders, such as Trump, who have always been equivocal about supporting Ukraine’s war effort. If there are important issues to be addressed about Kyiv’s future governance, a far better solution would be to tackle them once the war is won and Russia no longer poses a threat to Ukraine’s very existence.
Political legitimacy at stake
Fedorov could become a problem for Zelensky, according to Italy’s La Repubblica:
On Tuesday evening, when it became clear that Zelensky had definitively closed the door on the former defense minister’s reappointment, Fedorov threw down the gauntlet and called for elections to be held despite the ongoing war. This was a powerful political move because Zelensky’s term as president expired more than two years ago: he remains in office under martial law, as provided for by the constitution. By nevertheless calling for a ‘legal, safe and realistic’ path back to the ballot box, Fedorov shifted the battle from the Ministry of Defense to a far more sensitive area for Zelensky: the question of his political legitimacy in the presidential office.
Re-election no easy prospect
Austria’s Salzburger Nachrichten comments:
Elections could end badly for Zelensky and his team even after the fighting has ceased. According to a survey by the polling organization Socis, the incumbent would lose to both former Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny and Fedorov in the second round of a presidential election. This is partly because of Ukrainian voters’ traditional distrust of incumbent heads of state – Ukrainians haven’t re-elected a president since 1999. Another factor is the corruption scandals surrounding Zelensky’s former chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and other members of his inner circle in 2024 and 2025, as well as their attempts to neutralize the anti-corruption bodies investigating them.”
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