&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Democracy can’t be held hostage’: Sacked Ukraine minister calls for election amid war with Russia")
Former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for elections to be held during wartime, in what is being seen as one of the biggest challenges to President Volodymyr Zelensky's leadership since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia," Fedorov, 35, said in a video posted on YouTube on Tuesday. He said Ukraine was fighting "precisely because we want to remain a free European state".
Ukraine has been under martial law since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, with elections suspended under the wartime restrictions. Fedorov did not name Zelensky in the video. He was unexpectedly dismissed as defence minister last month, only six months after taking up the post. Zelensky has not publicly responded to his latest remarks.
Fedorov's dismissal triggered protests in several parts of Ukraine, with supporters calling for his reinstatement. He had gained popularity as defence minister for efforts to tackle corruption, improve the ministry's performance and use data to assess battlefield effectiveness.
His removal was widely linked to tensions with army commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. Syrskyi was also replaced within days, as protests over Fedorov's dismissal mounted.
Fedorov was offered other government positions, including deputy prime minister for military innovation, but has said he would return only as defence minister.
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Hours before Fedorov released his video, Zelensky confirmed that he had nominated Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister for parliamentary approval. Khmara is a career intelligence official who has maintained a relatively low political profile.
In his video, Fedorov did not outline any political ambitions of his own. Instead, he called for a "legal, safe, and realistic mechanism" to restore Ukraine's democratic process despite the continuing war. He also warned of a "systemic crisis of governance", saying the country was "scared of change", and identified corruption as one of the factors undermining Ukraine's war effort.
Fedorov previously served as minister of digital transformation. In the early stages of Russia's invasion, he helped establish the volunteer "IT Army of Ukraine", which carried out cyber-attacks against Russian targets.
He later led the Army of Drones fundraising campaign and introduced elements of gamification into Ukraine's war effort, including a system that awarded Ukrainian military units credits for successfully striking Russian targets.
