Mykhailo Fedorov, sacked last year as Ukraine's defence minister, released a nine-minute video on Tuesday calling for wartime elections and offering a blistering critique of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's administration. The 35-year-old former insider, once a loyalist, has become a potent political opponent amid growing public pressure for democratic renewal.
Fedorov's Video and Call for Elections
In the video posted on YouTube, Fedorov said: "Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia. We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism which will allow Ukraine to renew its full democratic process even in the conditions of a long war." He accused the government of facing a "systemic crisis of governance" in which corruption inside the defence ministry was hurting the war effort, reforms were stymied, and loyalists promoted. "The old system lives by its own rules too often. It protects itself. It is scared of change," he said, hinting that his own attempts to root out corruption in procurement had led to his sacking.
Protests and Political Fallout
For more than a month, demonstrators have gathered in Ivan Franko Square outside Zelenskyy's office, chanting Fedorov's name. On Sunday evening, 2,000 people marched along Khreshchatyk, Kyiv's main boulevard, waving cardboard banners in support of the ousted minister. Zelenskyy has refused to reinstate Fedorov, and on Wednesday Ukraine's parliament, the Rada, voted to approve a successor as defence minister, Yevhen Khmara, permanently shutting Fedorov out of government.
Corruption Allegations and Expert Views
Fedorov noted that today's corruption schemes have "an entirely different meaning" as full-scale war rages, representing drones not bought, "ammunition that did not reach the front" and technology that "could have been put into production but wasn't". The video shows a photo of Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy's former chief of staff, who resigned last year amid a corruption scandal implicating other senior figures such as Timur Mindich, Zelenskyy's former business partner. Yermak's lawyer has dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and Mindich, who fled to Israel, also denies wrongdoing.
Orysia Lutsevych, deputy director of the Russia and Eurasia programme and head of the Ukraine forum at Chatham House, said of Fedorov's comments: "I think he's right. He says the system is old-fashioned, does not run fast enough, stalls innovation and prioritises loyalty." She said "personal and vested interests" sometimes influenced official decision making, not always in Ukraine's interests. "This could be called corruption," she added.
Lutsevych noted that Ukrainian society is politically engaged, with "the street" acting as a check on the president. However, she said "nervous exhaustion" and Zelenskyy's failure to explain his actions had created a public crisis. "It's a perfect powder box," she observed.
Zelenskyy's Response and Election Prospects
Zelenskyy has not yet responded to Fedorov's accusations. On Wednesday he fired his deputy chief of staff, Iryna Mudra, after the National Anti-Corruption Bureau carried out a raid on her office. The bureau said Mudra and a Rada deputy were suspected of money laundering to the tune of $3.4m. A year ago, Zelenskyy triggered protests when he tried to strip the bureau of its independence, reversing course after criticism from activists at home and pressure from Kyiv's European partners.
Olena Tregub, co-founder of the Independent Defence Anti-Corruption Commission, said those "from the system" frequently occupied top posts, at the expense of talented professionals. "Corruption is the symptom. It's not the cause. The cause of the problem is bad governance," she said. There is little prospect Zelenskyy will hold an election any time soon, or embrace Fedorov's idea of voting by smartphone, as under Ukraine's constitution polls cannot take place during wartime. Nonetheless, pressure for some form of democratic renewal is growing, and when presidential elections are eventually held, Fedorov has positioned himself to challenge Zelenskyy.
