Zelenskiy Warns Wartime Election Could 'Destroy' Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has cautioned that holding a presidential election while Ukraine remains at war with Russia would effectively "destroy" the country by dividing its people. His remarks, released to reporters on Sunday, mark his first public response to a call for a wartime poll made last week by Mykhailo Fedorov, the recently ousted former defence minister.

Fedorov, once a close ally of Zelenskiy and now seen as a potential political rival, surprised many by demanding an election during wartime—the first such appeal from a major Ukrainian political figure since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022. His dismissal last month had already sparked protests, but even some of his supporters hesitated to back his election proposal.

"I believe that if we want to destroy the country, then we can move towards elections during this kind of war," Zelenskiy said. He added that elections during wartime are prohibited under Ukrainian law, and that security concerns, the millions of citizens abroad, those under Russian occupation, and soldiers at the front would make a vote nearly impossible to conduct fairly.

Public sentiment appears to align with the president's caution. A poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology on August 5 found that 57% of Ukrainians want elections only after the fighting ends. While Zelenskiy's approval rating remains stable at around 60%, analysts note that many citizens desire fresh political faces but are not eager to vote during the conflict.

Zelenskiy reiterated that a wartime election might be feasible if Ukraine's international partners could guarantee security, but no such plan has been proposed. "Elections right now are a tsunami for the state, which will split Ukraine," he said. "That's why my strategy is to steer the country toward an ending of the war and to preserve an independent and sovereign state."

Fedorov has not explicitly stated whether he would run in any future election.