Sacked Ukrainian defence minister calls for presidential election

Ukraine’s popular ex-defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for wartime elections, in what is widely seen as the biggest challenge to Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidency since Russia’s full-scale invasion four and a half years ago.

“Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia,” said Fedorov, 35, in a video posted to YouTube on Tuesday, adding that Ukraine is fighting “precisely because we want to remain a free European state”.

Since the war broke out in 2022 Ukraine has been under martial law, meaning elections are suspended.

Fedorov, who did not mention Zelensky by name in the video, was unexpectedly fired from his role as defence minister last month, just six months after his appointment.

About 100 protesters gathered outside the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday morning, chanting “bring back Federov as minister of defence” and “we are fed up, we want dialogue”.

Fedorov is a charismatic politician, and during his tenure as defence minister, he was credited with energising the ministry, heading a drive against corruption, challenging outdated military structures and transforming the battlefield with new technology.

His dismissal in mid-July is believed to have resulted from tensions between him and army commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Hours before he posted his video late on Tuesday, Zelensky confirmed he had asked parliament to confirm acting defence minister Yevhenii Khmara in the post. A vote was due to be held later on Wednesday.

Fedorov spoke in the video of a sense of injustice, warning it was “particularly dangerous when society develops the feeling that the main criterion for an appointment is not professionalism, results, or the ability to transform the country, but personal loyalty to the system”.

The protests have continued weekly, with younger Ukrainians especially disappointed to see the established armed forces chief favoured over the fresh-faced digital innovator.

He gave no indication of his own political plans in the YouTube video, instead focusing on the need for a “legal, safe, and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amidst a prolonged war”.

In the space of a month, he has gone from saying he would only return to government in his old job, to calling for widespread reform and political change. He has not explicitly stated his intention to run against Zelensky but he has laid down the most serious challenge yet, calling for “a state where institutions are stronger than names”.

That might be a reference to Zelensky’s own personal profile, but after such a stark intervention, it is Fedorov’s name that his now doing the rounds.

His call for elections has angered some Ukrainian commentators, including those who backed Fedorov’s return as defence minister. One of Zelensky’s detractors argued that even the government’s fiercest opponents understood that holding elections during the war was impossible.