Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov recorded a nine-minute video address in which he essentially called for elections in Ukraine. The address appeared on his YouTube channel late in the evening 18 in August and is currently the only video on the channel.
“If the war lasts for another year, two, three, can Russia effectively obtain the right to decide when Ukrainians will again be able to elect their leadership? I am convinced that no. Democracy cannot be hostage to Russia. We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state,” he said.
According to him, the state must ensure voting opportunities for servicemen, the millions of Ukrainians abroad, and also citizens from front-line territories. Mykhailo Fedorov noted that holding elections in a war-torn country is difficult, “but difficulty does not mean impossibility.”
“We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state. Therefore, we must find a legal, safe, and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to restore a full democratic process even under conditions of prolonged war,” he said.
The video address appeared after President Volodymyr Zelensky submitted to Parliament on Tuesday a proposal to appoint Yevheniy Khmara as defense minister.
Mykhailo Fedorov effectively left this post 15 in July when it became known that he would not be part of the new government. After that, protests began in Ukraine for Fedorov’s return to the post. The latest one took place on Sunday and involved a march through central Kyiv.
10 in August Valeriy Zaluzhny, Mykhailo Fedorov, and Kyrylo Budanov headed the trust rating among Ukrainians according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). Volodymyr Zelensky placed fourth.
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