Ukraine appoints Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister amid wartime election debate

Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian lawmakers appointed Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister on Wednesday, hours after his predecessor Mykhailo Fedorov called for elections during wartime, creating a new political challenge for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Khmara, a former senior special forces operative and briefly acting head of Ukraine’s SBU security service, takes charge of the ministry amid political turmoil following Fedorov’s removal in July.

Election call

Fedorov’s dismissal prompted thousands of people to protest in Kyiv in rare wartime demonstrations. Critics said the decision had been poorly communicated at a critical stage of the war with Russia.

In a statement on Tuesday, Fedorov said Ukraine faced a crisis of governance and that its democratic process “cannot be held hostage by Russia”. He called for a “legal, safe and realistic mechanism” to allow elections despite the continuing war.

Wartime elections are prohibited under Ukrainian law. An August 5 poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that 57% of Ukrainians believed elections should be held only after the war, citing the presence of hundreds of thousands of troops on the front line and ongoing Russian missile and drone attacks.

Zelenskiy has not directly responded to Fedorov’s call. His communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, said Russia’s daily attacks provided “the exhaustive answer to this question”.

Political and corruption developments

Fedorov’s intervention has fuelled speculation over his political ambitions. One recent poll suggested he could defeat Zelenskiy in a presidential run-off, although Fedorov has not said whether he intends to stand.

Political analyst Lesia Bidochko said there was no realistic mechanism for holding an election, given the millions of Ukrainians living abroad or displaced within the country, as well as those serving in the military.

Khmara’s appointment came as Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities announced charges against a deputy head of Zelenskiy’s office over an alleged $3 million money-laundering scheme.

The investigation concerns an alleged attempt to raise money for bail in a separate energy corruption case. It follows a major investigation launched last November into an alleged $100 million kickback scheme involving Ukraine’s state atomic energy agency.