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Zelenskyy refuses wartime election demand, warns of national split

8/23/2026

A call to hold elections in Ukraine was rejected by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said a national vote conducted during active warfare would split the country apart.

Wartime elections, meaning a ballot held while a country remains under military conflict and, in Ukraine's case, under martial law, raise serious questions about legitimacy and voter access that peacetime votes do not face.

The demand came from a defence minister Zelenskyy had recently dismissed. Zelenskyy framed the idea as a threat to national cohesion, saying such a vote would divide Ukraine rather than unite it.

His public refusal carries a second dimension: it positions him to reassert presidential authority following a high-profile dismissal, one the fired official now appears to be contesting on the political stage.

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