Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected calls for elections while the war with Russia continues, warning that holding a vote under current conditions could fracture the country.

“Elections right now are a tsunami for the state, which will split Ukraine,” Zelensky said during a meeting with journalists on Saturday, remarks that were released on Sunday. He also warned that if Ukraine wanted to “destroy the country”, it could move towards elections during the war.

The comments were made after former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for Ukraine to develop a way to hold elections despite the continuing conflict. In a video address on 18 August, Fedorov said the country needed a “legal, safe, and realistic mechanism” to restore a full democratic process while ensuring voting rights for soldiers, Ukrainians living abroad and people in frontline areas.

Fedorov also argued that Russia should not be allowed to determine when Ukrainians can choose their government, saying democracy was part of what Ukrainians were fighting for. His proposal came after his dismissal as defence minister, a decision that triggered protests and increased political tensions in Kyiv.

Ukraine is currently under martial law, and national elections are prohibited under Ukrainian law while that regime remains in force. Security concerns also complicate any potential vote, including how soldiers at the front, citizens displaced inside the country, Ukrainians living abroad and residents of Russian-occupied territories could participate.

Public opinion currently favours delaying the vote. A Kyiv International Institute of Sociology survey conducted from 20 July to 3 August found that 15% of respondents supported holding elections before hostilities ended. Another 23% said elections could be held after a ceasefire and security guarantees, while 57% said they should wait until a final peace agreement and the complete end of the war.

The survey covered 974 adults living in Ukrainian government-controlled territory and did not include citizens who had left Ukraine since the full-scale invasion or residents of territories not controlled by Kyiv. The institute said wartime conditions could introduce some systematic deviation into the results.

Zelensky said elections could become possible if Ukraine's international partners provided credible security guarantees, but he said no such concrete plan had been proposed. He reiterated that his priority was to bring the war to an end while preserving Ukraine as an independent and sovereign state.

Fedorov has not publicly said whether he intends to run in a future election. For now, the legal restrictions remain in place and Ukraine continues to operate under martial law as fighting with Russia continues.