Sacked Ukraine defence minister calls for wartime presidential election

Ukraine's ousted defence minister has called for an election in Ukraine.

While wartime elections are prohibited in Ukraine, it is the first call for a leadership challenge to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Russia invaded in 2022.

Mykhailo Fedorov has not confirmed whether he would stand in any election, but says the country faces a "crisis of governance".

Ukraine's ousted Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for a wartime election, arguing Ukraine faces a "crisis of governance".

It is the first demand of its kind and would be the first leadership challenge to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

But in Mr Fedorov's video address he said "democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia".

"We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to renew its full democratic process even in the conditions of a long war," he said.

The 35-year-old was a longtime ally of Mr Zelenskyy's until his unexpected firing from the Defence Ministry in July, just six months after he was appointed.

He was the last remaining member of Mr Zelenskyy's first cabinet in 2019.

Unlike his predecessors, Mr Fedorov publicly laid out a strategy to defeat Russia through attrition and technological superiority.

Shortly after his dismissal, a bitter rift was exposed between Mr Fedorov and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Thousands of Ukrainians then took to the streets demanding the sacking of Mr Syrskyi, who Mr Zelenskyy later dismissed bowing to public pressure.

Protests in support of Mr Fedorov have continued for the past month in Ukraine.

While Mr Fedorov did not say whether he would stand in an election, one recent poll has indicated the ex-minister could comfortably beat Mr Zelenskyy in a runoff vote, where the top two presidential candidates went head-to-head.