In what appears to be the most significant challenge to his authority since the Russian invasion of his country in February 2022, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy finds himself confronted by a rival of his own making. Mykhailo Fedorov, the popular former defence minister whom Zelenskiy sacked last month, has called for wartime elections in a video address that stopped just short of a formal campaign declaration. Ukrainians, Fedorov argued, should not allow Moscow to dictate when they next choose their government.
It is a potent argument, and a dangerous one for a president whose term was due to end in 2024 but was lawfully extended, as Ukraine’s constitution requires, for as long as martial law remains in force. Zelenskiy and his supporters make a reasonable case that a free and fair ballot is impossible while missiles fall, millions remain displaced abroad and soldiers hold the line in frontline cities. Vladimir Putin has cynically seized on the same point to brand Zelenskiy illegitimate. That Fedorov now echoes that is troubling.
Yet the underlying story is one of a leader steadily hollowing out his own support. Zelenskiy has a well-documented pattern of sidelining anyone who grows too popular, from General Valery Zaluzhny to Fedorov himself. The 35-year-old was among the most effective ministers of the war, credited with modernising strategy and confronting the corruption that continues to sap Ukraine’s fighting strength. His dismissal triggered weeks of protest, and his refusal of any lesser post has left him free to speak plainly.
As parliament confirmed Zelenskiy’s replacement candidate this week, anti-corruption investigators announced a fresh operation targeting officials in the president’s own office, prompting the dismissal of a deputy chief of staff. Ukraine is fighting bravely and with increasing success on the battlefield. But a war fought in the name of democracy cannot indefinitely postpone democracy itself, and Zelenskiy has yet to offer a convincing answer to the question Fedorov has now forced into the open.
RM Block
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