Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that holding elections in Ukraine during the war with Russia could split the country and weaken the state. He said a vote would be acceptable only if Ukraine’s allies could establish specific conditions for a safe, legitimate and democratic process.
The president was responding for the first time to a call from former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov for a new election. Zelenskyy said the proposal was impractical while Russia appeared uninterested in a ceasefire and was building up missile supplies and military forces.
What conditions would be needed for a vote
Zelenskyy said any election would need to include military personnel, people living in frontline areas and millions of Ukrainians who fled abroad. It would also have to take place without Russian strikes and shelling.
Elections have been suspended since martial law was imposed at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Zelenskyy’s five-year term ended in May 2024, but there had previously been little support in Ukraine for holding a contest while the war continued.
Related coverage: Russia’s Yabloko loses election appeal as deputy leader is jailed.
Why the political debate has changed
Fedorov’s call for a fresh contest was the most open challenge to Zelenskyy’s authority from inside Ukraine since the Russian invasion began. Fedorov had been dismissed from the government a month earlier.
Zelenskyy said Fedorov had overreached by trying to take on functions belonging to the military. The president said Fedorov was offered four alternative government jobs and declined each of them.
Missile supplies and the next military phase
Zelenskyy said Russia had a stockpile of 600 to 630 high-speed ballistic missiles and was trying to produce slightly more than 100 a month ahead of winter. He put Russia’s maximum annual production capacity at 1,300 missiles. These weapons have been used against Ukrainian infrastructure, warehouses and Kyiv, causing increased civilian casualties.
Ukraine is seeking 300 Patriot missiles for its winter defence package, while its air force has requested 360. Zelenskyy said only about 600 of the most capable PAC-3 interceptors are produced globally each year, and that Ukraine had agreements with France for at least one SAMP/T air-defence system this year and with Germany for about 600 PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors in 2027 and 2028.
Zelenskyy also said Russia could conscript a further 300,000 soldiers after parliamentary elections in September, in a mobilisation focused away from Moscow, St Petersburg and other major cities. He said Russia was seeking to regain momentum and capture the parts of eastern Donetsk province it does not control, including the areas around Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, but he was confident Moscow would fail.
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