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Zelenskyy: wartime elections would “destroy” Ukraine
Confirmed
What we know
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected calls for a wartime presidential election, saying a vote amid Russia’s invasion would be a “huge risk” that could split and “destroy” the country. His comments, from a Saturday briefing, were published Sunday as Ukraine marked National Flag Day ahead of Independence Day events.
Ukrainian law suspends elections under martial law. The push came from former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, dismissed in July, who last week publicly urged a wartime vote.
What's confirmed
- AFP (via Daily Sabah) and Al Jazeera: Zelenskyy said elections now would be “a tsunami for the country that will split Ukraine,” and that moving toward wartime polls would “destroy the country.”
- ABC News (Australia) and related wires carried the same Sunday quotes, attributing them to Zelenskyy’s first on-record reply since Fedorov’s video appeal.
- Fedorov, 35, held the defence post about six months; his dismissal prompted protests. He argued democracy “cannot be held hostage by Russia.”
- Analysts cited across outlets say logistics, security, refugees, occupied territories, and front-line voting make a fair wartime election practically unworkable even if law were changed.
What's still developing
- Whether Fedorov or other figures escalate a political campaign around elections remained open Sunday.
- Overnight Russian strikes continued: emergency services reported deaths and damage in Donetsk and wounds in Kharkiv; a drone hit a passenger train in Odesa region without reported casualties, per Al Jazeera’s Sunday wrap.
- Zelenskyy also flagged a large defence funding gap and air-defence shortages in the same briefing cycle; ally pledges (including Norway’s 2027 package) were still being tallied.