ZOAHARIAN.COM - FormerUkrainian defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov called wartime elections, which many see as the biggest challenge to Volodymyr Zelensky's presidency since the outbreak of war with Russia in February 2022. "Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia," said Fedorov, 35, in a video posted to YouTube on Tuesday, adding that Ukraine went to war "precisely because we want to remain a free European country." Since the Russianinvasion, Ukraine has been under martial law, which means elections are suspended.

Illustration. Fedorov, who did not name Zelensky in the video, was abruptly fired from his role as defense minister at the end of July, just six months after his appointment. Zelensky has not responded to the video from Fedorov, whose firing sparked protests across the country.

During his tenure as defense minister, Fedorov was praised for energizing the ministry, leading efforts to fight corruption, and using data to analyze and try to improve performance on the front lines. Illustration. His dismissal is widely believed to be related to tensions between him and the Commander-in-Chief of the Land Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Syrskyi was also replaced a few weeks later, after weeks of protests piled pressure on Ukraine's president. Fedorov gave no indication of his political plans in the YouTube video, instead focusing on the need for "legitimate, safe and realistic mechanisms that would allow Ukraine to fully restore democratic processes even in the midst of a protracted war." He added that his country was facing a "systemic governance crisis" and was "fearful of change," and cited corruption inUkraine as one of the things hurting the country's war effort.

Illustration. Zelensky has since appointed Yevgeniy Khmara, a career intelligence official with no political profile, as acting defense minister. Other posts in Zelensky's government were offered to Fedorov, including deputy prime minister for military innovation, but the 35-year-old said he would only return as defense minister.

Zelensky tried to repair the crisis surrounding the dismissal of the defense minister and take into account its impact As the former minister of digital transformation, Fedorov created a volunteer "Ukrainian ITArmy" to launch cyberattacks against Russiancitizens in the early days after the full-scale invasion. Later, he led a successful fundraising campaign called Army Drone and introduced elements of “gamification” into the war, designing a system that rewarded Ukrainian military units for successfully achieving Russian targets. As defense secretary, his focus on drones, high-tech warfare and procurement continued, and he called on SpaceX founder, Elon Musk, to stop Russia from using Starlink satellites for drone attacks.