Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's former defence minister, released a nine-minute video on Monday, a month after his forced resignation, accusing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government of a systemic crisis and corruption. Fedorov, who told the BBC that Zelenskyy has "questions to answer," said it was his "moral right" to raise the issue of elections, suspended since Russia's 2022 invasion. His dismissal in July sparked the largest street protests in Ukraine since the war began.
The political backdrop intensified on 19 August when anti-corruption agencies raided homes of senior officials, prompting Zelenskyy to fire a deputy head of his office the same day parliament confirmed Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister. An August poll placed Fedorov third in presidential popularity behind Zaluzhnyi and Zelenskyy.
Fedorov, who denied evidence that Zelenskyy is personally corrupt, plans a US visit to meet Elon Musk and called for direct funding of Ukrainian drone production over foreign equipment. Analysts see the move as the start of a broader political game, though his election demand is widely viewed as unrealistic under martial law.