FEDOROV CALLS FOR ELECTIONS TO BE HELD DURING WAR

KYIV, AUGUST 18 /SRNA/ – Recently ousted Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for elections to be held during the war, pointing to a systemic lack of transparency and expressing concern over corruption under wartime conditions.

"Under wartime conditions, the state has faced a governance crisis and non-transparent decision-making, unprecedented corruption and kleptomania, as well as the appointment of acting officials based on personal loyalty rather than professionalism," Fedorov said in a statement posted on YouTube.

Ukrainian law prohibits elections from being held while martial law is in effect. Fedorov’s call is the first such demand from a prominent Ukrainian political figure since the beginning of the war in 2022.

Mykhailo Fedorov was dismissed as Ukraine’s Defence Minister on July 15 by a decision of President Volodymyr Zelensky, triggering an internal political crisis within the Kyiv authorities.