Ukraine's fired Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov calls for elections despite war with Russia

CBS News ^ | August 19, 2026

[MinorityRepublican]

Ukraine's former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for an election Tuesday despite the country's prolonged war with Russia, in what is seen as the largest challenge to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's power since the start of the conflict.

Zelenskyy imposed martial law, which prohibits elections from being held, when Russian forces invaded the country in February 2022.

In a video posted on YouTube, Fedorov said, "Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia," and called for a "legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even amidst a prolonged war."

"We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state," he added.

Before his ouster last month, Fedorov had helped design Ukraine's strategy seeking to bring an end to the war by turning to drones and robots to beat back its larger adversary.

Zelenskyy fired Fedorov in mid-July, citing an unsolvable feud between Fedorov and Zelenskyy's top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi. The move sparked weeks of protests from thousands of people across the country, criticizing the removal of the widely respected minister.

Fedorov was credited with turning the tide of the war in Ukraine's favor, increasing Ukraine's strikes deep into Russia tenfold and bolstering its domestic arsenal.

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TOPICS: Ukraine
KEYWORDS:

[Mount Athos]

a major German paper just came out in favor of not just elections, but dumping Zelensky. I wonder if the ... powers that be are arranging a change.

[delta7]

Dictator St Z will not allow elections...the war cheerleaders quote some wartime law...fact is the Rada( Ukie Congress) can vote to have elections.Much written about Rada members who advocate for elections getting a “visit” in the dark of the night.

[Jubal Harshaw]

YES! At this point, with no elections for years, how does the government of the Ukraine even claim to have legitimacy?

[Paul R.]

I can sympathize somewhat with Fedorov’s position, but, if he’s going to demand this, he has to come up with a realistic way to do it that does not infringe in any way on Ukraine’s war effort.

Basically, “Put your ‘money’ where your mouth is”.

I would add that Ukraine’s situation is NOTHING like those sometimes cited from the past.

[Flaming Conservative]

“Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia,”

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It’s not; it’s being held hostage by that little martinet Zelinsky.

[Paul R.]

What is your proposal for holding these elections without massive outside interference?

[mac_truck]

He’s gotta be a Putin puppet...a doorknob can figure that out.

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

--- "a major German paper just came out in favor of not just elections, but dumping Zelensky. I wonder if the ... powers that be are arranging a change."

Your suspicion may well be correct. For the German readers:

Ukrainische Soldaten desertieren bei Ausbildung in Deutschland – Bericht über mehrere Hundert Fälle Die Welt, 20 August 2026.

Er will nicht kämpfen Die Zeit, 20 August 2026

Ukrainians in Germany -- and more generally throughout Europe -- are not voluntarily rushing to join the battle at the front. Certainly, the German and French press seem to be shifting what is reported.

[roving]

I don’t think he would dare give up power. I don’t look for him to give up power even when the war is over.

[Flaming Conservative]

What interference would that be? I’ve always heard that European elections are rather straight forward, communist countries being the exception.

[Paul R.]

I can partially sympathize with Federov’s (and your) position, but in fact, in the past, Ukrainians have not been shy at all about massively demonstrating in the streets to toss out governments they were displeased with. There were much smaller protests of Federov’s firing, but they were modest and mostly did not seem to be aimed at bringing the present government down.

Still, if we accept the proposition that a positive affirmation is needed, then what is former DM Federov’s proposal for holding these elections without massive outside interference?

BTW, a review of Federov’s past statements and interviews quite clearly show that in terms of fighting on, and fighting aggressively, he is if anything more hardline than Zelenskyy. He is also quite well spoken, expressing himself better than Zelenskyy, IMO, and considerably more charismatic and energetic. We’ve seen his popularity and effectiveness & innovativeness as Defense Minister. Z-man, OTOH, is clearly “tired”. Pro-Russia posters who push for an election may well find they should have been more careful about what they wished for.

[Paul R.]

“What interference”?

OMG. You must be TOTALLY (I shall use a “kind” word here) uneducated on the post-Soviet political history of Ukraine. It would take me all night just to write up an introduction, and I was up almost all of last night due to severe t-storms.

(Sad weary face with tongue lolling out.)

Lessee... I suppose a good introduction would be to suggest that you do a fairly deep dive on the history of all of Ukraine’s post-Soviet presidents and their elections. Stick with reasonably neutral-on-the subject sources. That’ll keep you busy all weekend.

When you wake up Monday morning with a headache trying to make sense of it, then you know you went deep enough. After the headache goes away, you should have made a half-decent dent into the subject.

Comparing the degree of outside interference in Ukrainian elections to, say, that in Germany or the UK, is like comparing the corruption in Maduro’s Venezuela to Finland.

[Flaming Conservative]

Well I have always heard Ukraine is more crooked than a dog leg...