The campaign to replace Zelensky

泽连斯基遭挑战,战时选举会分裂乌克兰吗?

The Global Story

2026-08-24

30 分钟
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Last week Ukraine's popular ex-defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections, in what is widely seen as the biggest challenge to Volodymyr Zelensky's presidency since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Zelensky, whose five-year presidential term ended in May 2024, has been under pressure from both Washington and Moscow to hold new elections, but they have been suspended until after the war is over. Fedorov says that corruption is depriving the military of weapons and making it harder for Kyiv to win the war, and that, "democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia”, although he tells the BBC that he had not himself seen the president engage in any corrupt activity. We speak to Vitaly Shevchenko from BBC Monitoring about where all this could lead. Producers: Mhairi Mackenzie, Xandra Ellin and Lucy Pawle Executive producer: James Shield Mix: Travis Evans Digital producer: Tom Bage Senior news editor: China Collins Photo: Volodymyr Zelensky and Mykhailo Fedorov pose for photos at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, June 18, 2026. Reuters/Stoyan Nenov
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  • The year is 2019. Look at us.

  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy is running to be President of Ukraine as a young, charismatic, popular, anti-corruption candidate.

  • Everything is possible.

  • That was the last time Ukraine held an election, over 7 years ago.

  • And now Zelenskyy faces his biggest challenge since Russia's full-scale invasion.

  • I have a lot of different plans.

  • I'm on my mission to defeat Russia and to save our country.

  • A new young charismatic popular politician is positioning himself as the voice of anti-corruption.

  • And the thing is, this young guy, his name is Fedorov, has been advising Zelenskyy for years.

  • They were close political allies, but now there's a huge rift between the two.

  • The young challenger says corruption in Ukraine is making it harder to win the war.

  • He's calling for fresh elections.

  • Over the weekend, Zelenskyy responded and said wartime elections would be a huge risk,

  • a quote "tsunami" that would split Ukraine.

  • On top of all this, there are reports Fedorov could be visiting the United States.

  • So where could all this lead?

  • From the BBC, I'm Asma Khalid in Washington DC.

  • And today on the Global Story, could Zelenskyy really be replaced in the middle of the war?

  • My name is Vitalii Shevchenko and I'm chief analyst at BBC Monitoring.

  • Vitalii, we should mention to listeners that you don't just cover this war.