Elections now would 'destroy Ukraine,' Zelensky says, revealing new details on disagreements with Fedorov

President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov's call to hold elections during Russia's full-scale war, warning that a vote under current conditions would risk splitting the country, he told reporters on Aug. 23.

"If we want to destroy the country, then during a war like this we can move toward elections," Zelensky said at a meeting with journalists attended by the Kyiv Independent.

"Elections right now are a tsunami for the state that will split Ukraine," he said. "My strategy is to bring the country to the end of the war and preserve an independent and sovereign state."

Fedorov, who was dismissed as defense minister in July, called for wartime elections in a video address on Aug. 18, presenting the proposal as necessary to restore democratic political competition.

As per Ukraine's constitution, elections are suspended under martial law, which has remained in force since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Fedorov's proposal also drew criticism from some of the soldiers and protesters who had spent weeks demanding his reinstatement as defense minister.

Zelensky said Ukraine had previously faced pressure from different sides to hold elections during the war, but said no partners had offered concrete conditions under which a vote could be conducted safely, legitimately, and democratically.

Adding that any election would have to allow military personnel, residents of front-line areas, and millions of Ukrainians living abroad to participate, while also ensuring voters were protected from Russian attacks.

"But no one has provided any concrete proposals," Zelensky said, arguing that such conditions are currently impossible while Russia refuses to agree to a ceasefire.

Zelensky also gave a detailed account of the circumstances surrounding Fedorov's dismissal, saying a serious conflict had developed between the former defense minister and then-Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi over the boundaries between the Defense Ministry and military command.

"There cannot be a conflict at this level between the leaders," Zelensky said. "The commander-in-chief cannot work without the Defense Ministry and the defense minister, and the defense minister cannot work without the commander-in-chief. It is simply a catastrophe in a country at war."

According to Zelensky, he had previously told Fedorov to abandon a proposal for what the president called a "Ministry of War," under which the military command structure would have been reorganized.

"I called him at the beginning and said: 'The Ministry of War, where there is no commander-in-chief and the chief of the General Staff is effectively under you — forget this presentation,'" Zelensky said.

Zelensky said Fedorov initially accepted his position but later sought other ways to pursue similar changes, while Syrskyi responded with "his own bureaucracy."

The dispute eventually deteriorated to the point that the two men were no longer communicating directly, according to Zelensky.

"Two weeks before the decision, I told them I was giving them an opportunity: meet yourselves, resolve it. They did not meet," Zelensky said. "It cannot work like that."

Fedorov's dismissal sparked weeks-long protests in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, with demonstrators demanding his reinstatement, criticizing senior military leadership, and calling for greater government accountability and transparency.

Zelensky said he considered the protests themselves normal but criticized demonstrators who used insulting slogans against Ukrainian commanders, arguing that such rhetoric showed disrespect toward military personnel who had defended the country.

"People came out, and that's normal," Zelensky said. "But what is not normal is when the word 'devil' is directed at serving military people."

Zelensky said he remained grateful to both Fedorov and Syrskyi for their work despite their conflict. He added that he had offered Fedorov four different government roles after his dismissal, but Fedorov rejected them all.

Fedorov has previously said he would return to government only as defense minister.