Zelenskyy says wartime elections could ‘destroy’ Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected his ex-defence chief's calls for a wartime election, calling the prospect a "huge risk" against the backdrop of the more than four-year war with Russia.

Key points

• Ukraine has received just 264 Patriot missiles in 2026, down from 364 in 2025 and 675 in 2023, he remarked.
• Meanwhile in the Odesa region, a Russian drone hit a passenger train travelling from Zhytomyr to Odesa, the Kyiv Independent documented, citing Ukrainian Railways CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi.
• The 35-year-old Fedorov – a popular figure in Ukraine – held his post for just six months until Zelenskyy fired him in July, prompting protests nationwide.
• Ukraine is seeking to produce Patriot missiles domestically after receiving political blessing from United States President Donald Trump.
• Overnight Russian strikes in the eastern Donetsk region killed two individuals and wounded two others on Sunday, Ukraine's emergency services stated on Telegram.

Ukrainian law bans elections during wartime, a measure that had gone unchallenged until former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov created the first public demand for a vote earlier this week.

Zelenskyy rejected the call during a wide-ranging briefing with reporters on Saturday.

"I believe that in a war like this, elections as such are a massive risk. Elections right now are a tsunami for the country that will split Ukraine, " the president remarked in comments published on Sunday.

"If we want to destroy the country, then we can move in the direction of elections during these times of war, " he continued.

Meanwhile, the 35-year-old Fedorov – a popular figure in Ukraine – held his post for just six months until Zelenskyy fired him in July, prompting protests nationwide.

On Tuesday, he posted an explosive nine-minute video on YouTube claiming that Ukraine's democracy "cannot be held hostage by Russia".

"Can Russia actually be entitled to define when Ukrainians can elect their authorities next time? I'm sure it's not, " he said, adding that Kyiv faces a "systemic crisis of governance".

Experts have informed Al Jazeera, even so, that any wartime election would be practically impossible against the backdrop of logistical and safety challenges, a reality that most Ukrainians agree with. Kyiv tackles missile launchers, Starlink.

Zelenskyy's domestic political crisis is playing out as his administration seeks more ways to curtail Moscow's deadly air strikes.

Overnight Russian strikes in the eastern Donetsk region killed two individuals and wounded two others on Sunday, Ukraine's emergency services stated on Telegram. At least 141 private homes sustained damage in the attack.

Another eight individuals, including a child, were wounded in a drone attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv that burned at least two residential buildings, the service stated.

Meanwhile in the Odesa region, a Russian drone hit a passenger train travelling from Zhytomyr to Odesa, the Kyiv Independent documented, citing Ukrainian Railways CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi. No casualties were documented.

Against the backdrop of the attacks, Zelenskyy stated on Saturday that Ukraine is especially focused on hitting Russian ballistic launchers as Moscow ramps up its employ of missiles – which effectively can only be destroyed by US-designed Patriot systems.

"When our antiballistic missiles are minimised – here is another tactic. Hunting their nearby locations from which ballistic missiles are launched, " Zelenskyy remarked.

In practice, the Ukrainian president additionally stated Moscow and Kyiv are building their own versions of Starlink, the satellite system applied for battlefield communications that is controlled by US tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Russia's alternative, developed "together with the Chinese", is projected to be operational by December, Zelenskyy stated.

He continued that Ukraine would not "just sit and wait for Russia and China" and was "implementing a similar project with a European country".

After defence spending that was higher than projected in the first half of 2026, ukraine's wartime efforts may be hampered by a $27bn defence funding gap this year, Zelenskyy remarked.

Ukraine needs at least $8bn for "a normal start" to 2027, he remarked, along with concerning $20bn more for other spending such as military salaries and payments to families of the dead.

Ukraine has reached an agreement with France for at least one SAMP/T air defence system this year, Zelenskyy remarked, and with Germany on the supply of concerning 600 PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors through 2028.

In short, zelenskyy says wartime elections could 'destroy' Ukraine is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.