Zelensky said voting during the war would divide Ukraine; as he rejected his dismissed former defence minister's demand, he also claimed Russia would mobilise 300,000 people after its election.
Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia would mobilise about 300,000 people after next month's parliamentary election and send those forces to complete the capture of Donetsk. Ukraine's president put Russian losses this year at 267,000, including about 155,000 killed. CNN noted that both the mobilisation forecast and the casualty figures came from the Ukrainian side and had not been independently confirmed.[1]
Mykhailo Fedorov, who was removed as defence minister in July, called for an election and argued that the war should not leave Ukrainian democracy suspended. Fedorov's dismissal after six months in office prompted protests. In a nine-minute video, he said Russia's continuation of the war should not halt the country's democratic order indefinitely. Al Jazeera reported that Ukrainian law bars elections while martial law remains in force and that the restriction had not faced an open challenge before Fedorov's intervention.[2]
Zelensky rejected Fedorov's demand, saying an election during the war would divide the country and that moving toward a vote would weaken Ukraine. In the same remarks, he said Ukrainian forces still held about 20 per cent of Donetsk region, including the industrial belt around Slaviansk and Kramatorsk. He contrasted 675 Patriot interceptors delivered in 2023 with a forecast of 264 this year and said Kyiv was prepared to buy up to 10 per cent of US stocks.[1], [2]
