Former Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for elections to be held despite the ongoing war, challenging the political status quo as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's mandate expired in May 2024 with no vote held since. Fedorov, who was appointed defence minister in January and dismissed by Zelenskyy in July, released a video urging the country to organise a ballot. His dismissal had triggered protests in Kyiv and other cities, though veteran Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a protest organiser, disowned the election call and doubted a frontline vote could be technically organised. Only 15% of Ukrainians support holding elections before the war ends, a Kyiv sociology institute poll found.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy installed Yevhenii Chmara as the new defence minister, and deputy presidential chief of staff Iryna Mudra was dismissed over an alleged money-laundering scheme involving nearly 3 million euros.
On the battlefield, at least 16 people were killed in a Russian missile and drone attack near Kyiv, while Ukraine struck the Taneco oil refinery in Tatarstan and a Krasnodar oil terminal. A Romanian F-16 destroyed a Russian naval drone near the Neptun Deep gas project. Poland announced the arrest of a Ukrainian suspect accused of plotting an assassination on behalf of Russian intelligence, and a Russian-Australian man was arrested in Brisbane for allegedly passing military intelligence to Moscow.