Zelenskyy rejects wartime election push, warns it would 'destroy' Ukraine

President Zelenskyy warned August 23 that holding elections during war would unleash a "tsunami" capable of "destroying" Ukraine. He rebuffed former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, fired in July, who on August 18 urged a presidential vote under martial law, citing corruption and a "systemic crisis of governance." Ukrainian law bans elections during wartime; experts call voting under bombardment near-impossible.