Zelensky: Fired Defense Chief Was Wrong About Elections

President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine's former defense minister is pushing the wrong fight. Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv that Mykhailo Fedorov's call for wartime elections is a dangerous idea, arguing that voting without a cease-fire would be "a tsunami for the state" that could fracture the country, the New York Times reports. Fedorov, fired in July and now demanding reinstatement, has renewed his push for elections even as Zelensky navigates internal rifts that led him to replace both the defense minister and top army commander, and as a corruption probe creeps closer to his office.

Zelensky insisted his focus is "to lead the country to the end of the war and preserve an independent and sovereign state," while warning that Ukraine faces a $57 billion budget gap, dwindling air defenses, and the prospect of fresh Russian mobilization. The remarks were his first public comments about the dismissal of Fedorov. "I really had and still have a very positive attitude toward Mykhailo," Zelensky said, per the AP. "We have been through a lot together. But I believe that he himself goes, or is pushed, into the wrong things." He replaced Fedorov with Maj. Gen. Yevhen Khmara, an appointment that has drawn protests. A new UN report says civilian casualties in Ukraine have jumped 44% this year, per the Times, with at least 1,839 killed and more than 10,000 injured.